Arizona, Site of Deadly Uber Crash, Pushed to Become Nation's Test Lab for Driverless Cars
March 20 2018 - 2:37PM
Dow Jones News
By Alejandro Lazo
The deadly Uber crash in Arizona, the first known fatality
involving an autonomous vehicle in the U.S., is a setback for a
state that has aggressively sought to become the nation's test lab
for driverless cars.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, has made welcoming
technology companies to test their products in Arizona a hallmark
of his administration. He has been particularly welcoming of the
driverless car industry.
Less than a month ago, Gov. Ducey issued an executive order
allowing driverless cars to motor on Arizona streets without a
human, if the vehicles follow all traffic rules. It was an update
of the 2015 order that first explicitly allowed driverless cars on
the road.
The car that struck and killed 49-year-old pedestrian Elaine
Herzberg in Tempe, Ariz., Sunday night was an Uber Technologies
Inc. self-driving car in autonomous mode, with a human safety
operator at the wheel.
"Our prayers are with the victim, and our hearts go out to her
family," said Patrick Ptak, a spokesman for Gov. Ducey. "Our office
is in communication with law enforcement. Public safety is our top
priority."
The accident occurred in a part of the greater Phoenix metro
area that the governor and economic development groups have been
promoting as a hub of sorts for the nascent driverless car
industry.
Companies including Uber, Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo, General Motors'
Cruise Automation and Intel have been testing self-driving cars in
Arizona. Gov. Ducey's recent order said more than 600 driverless
vehicles are being tested on state roads.
Waymo has been testing vehicles in the Phoenix area without
humans behind the wheel, and it plans to begin commercial robot
taxi services there this year.
Since taking office in 2015, Gov. Ducey has made a point of
cutting regulations for businesses, with an aim of making Arizona a
hub for tech companies. n a statement announcing his March
executive order, the governor said "our policies and priorities
must adapt to remain competitive in today's economy."
In 2017, the governor's office said it cut more than 600
regulations for an array of businesses in the state, and it plans
on doing away with another 500 this year.
Each year he has been in office, the governor has issued an
order placing a moratorium on regulatory rule-making by the state's
agencies. In 2016, he signed a bill prohibiting local governments
from banning short-term rental companies such as Airbnb.
In 2015, the state passed a law allowing Arizonans to order
their own lab tests. The law had been lobbied for by now-embattled
blood-testing company Theranos, which had a major presence in
Scottsdale. The government last week filed civil fraud charges
against the company's founder, who was stripped of voting control
of Theranos under a settlement with federal regulators.
As Arizona ushers in this new technology testing, Gov. Ducey has
said the state is committed to safety. In March of 2016, he created
the Arizona Self-Driving Vehicle Oversight Committee, intended to
advise the state's Department of Transportation on policies related
to self-driving cars. His latest executive order established
penalties for those testing or operating the fully autonomous
vehicle. A human tester may be issued a traffic citation or another
"applicable penalty" if the vehicle fails to comply with traffic or
motor vehicle laws.
Last December, the governor welcomed self-driving Uber cars in
front of the Arizona state capitol in Phoenix, after the company
moved the cars from California following a dust-up with the state's
Department of Motor Vehicles.
"California may not want you, but we do," he said at the
time.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 20, 2018 14:22 ET (18:22 GMT)
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