Uber puts brake on autonomous trials

Uber has halted trials of its self-driving cars on US roads after an accident in Arizona left one of the vehicles on its side on a public road.

The car – a Volvo SUV – was in self-driving mode at the time of the crash, Uber said. No-one was hurt in the incident, which is believed to have occurred when another car failed to yield to the Uber vehicle at a left turn.

Uber’s self-driving cars always have a human in the driving seat who can take over the controls.

The company initially took self-driving vehicles off the road in Arizona, followed by test sites in Pennsylvania and California – all three states where it operated the vehicles.

The incident follows a challenging period for Uber, which has been criticised for its workplace practices and seen a number of senior executives, including its former president Jeff Jones, leave the company.