Although many speculated a crash involving one of Uber’s autonomous vehicles would be a major setback for self-driving cars, it now seems that might not be the case after all.
The Uber driver, Patrick Murphy, who was behind the wheel of a self-driving Volvo XC90 was not found at fault for Friday’s accident in Tempe, Ariz., The Arizona Republic reports. Instead, Tempe police cited Alexandra Cole, the driver of the Honda CR-V that struck the Volvo, for failing to yield the right of way.
The Tempe Police Department’s findings reportedly are consistent with the witness statements provided by both Cole and Murphy.
“The light was green and there were about five seconds left on the crosswalk timer,” Cole said. “As far as I could tell, the third lane had no one coming in it so I was clear to make my turn. Right as I got to the middle lane about to cross the third I saw a car flying through the intersection but couldn’t brake fast enough to completely avoid collision.”
After Cole’s car made contact with it, Uber’s self-driving Volvo hit a light pole, flipped onto its side and hit two cars waiting in line on the other side of the intersection. Although legal responsibility for the crash falls on Cole’s shoulders, Murphy claims it was difficult to avoid.
“There was no time to react as there was a blind spot created by the line of traffic in the southbound left lane on McClintock,” Murphy said, via The Arizona Republic.
One witness, Brayan Torres, reportedly told police the accident solely was Murphy’s “fault for trying to beat the light and hitting the gas so hard,” though Uber claims its data doesn’t support that statement. While Murphy admitted he entered the intersection as the light was turning yellow, he estimated he was traveling at 38 mph — the speed limit on the road was 40 mph — and Uber said the XC90 was not accelerating.
Thumbnail photo via Uber
