Autonomous driving: Uber drives automatically in San Francisco

You're driving again: The Uber driver service has resumed its test drives with automated cars in San Francisco. After the fatal accident in 2018, the company temporarily suspended its program of self-driving cars.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has granted Uber the appropriate approval. The company resumed operations on March 10th. However, only two Volvo XC90 vehicles should drive, and only during the day, reports the US online news service The Verge citing a company spokesman. The program will also be limited to a few weeks.

Uber has been testing automated vehicles for several years. However, a serious accident occurred in March 2018: One of the Uber-Volvos hit a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona, who crossed a street in the dark, and fatally injured her. The guard, who was driving in the car for safety, was distracted at the moment, according to a video released by the police. Investigators consider her the main culprit. However, they also found bugs in the software.

After the accident, Uber stopped all test drives with the autonomously driving cars. After three quarters of a year, in December 2018, the vehicles drove back to Pittsburgh in the US state of Pennsylvania for the first time. In the meantime, Uber has also been automated in Dallas, Texas, in the capital, Washington DC, and in Toronto, in the Canadian province of Ontario. Uber and Volvo presented a new version of the automated XC90 in the middle of last year.