Uber's autonomous vehicle tests suspended following 'serious crash'

Car was in autonomous mode but wasn't to blame, suggest reports

Uber, the massively loss-making cab app, has suspended its self-driving car programme after one of its vehicles was involved in a serious crash.

The accident saw one of Uber's autonomous cars collide with another vehicle, leaving the driverless vehicle on its side in the middle of the road.

Uber has confirmed that the car involved, a heavily modified Volvo SUV, was in self-driving mode at the time of the crash.

As required by law, there was a human behind the wheel of the car. However, while initial reports said there was someone in the back of the vehicle, Uber has claimed that this wasn't the case.

"We are continuing to look into this incident and can confirm we had no backseat passengers in the vehicle," an Uber spokesperson admitted in a statement, noting that it is looking at whether the passenger could have reacted sooner to the incident, or whether updates to the vehicle's software could have helped the car react more quickly to the situation.

The accident occurred when the driver of a second vehicle "failed to yield" to the Uber vehicle while making a turn, said a spokesperson for the Tempe Police Department.

"The vehicles collided, causing the autonomous vehicle to roll onto its side," the spokesperson said. "There were no serious injuries."

Regardless, Uber has said it plans to suspend its self-driving vehicle pilot programmes in Arizona, Pittsburgh and San Francisco, California.

This is the second incident an Uber self-driving car has been involved in. The previous crash happened in California last December when one of its vehicles failed to stop at a red light.