Hyperdrive

Arizona Became Self-Driving Proving Ground Before Uber’s Deadly Crash

A lax approach to regulation lured hundreds of unproven autonomous vehicles onto the state’s public roads.

Uber Suspends Autonomous Testing on Self-Driving Death

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By Gabrielle Coppola, Ryan Beene, and Dana Hull

March 20, 2018 at 1:09 AM UTC

Updated on

March 20, 2018 at 3:48 PM UTC

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The technology behind autonomous vehicles has originated from coders in Silicon Valley, engineers in Detroit and academic researchers in Pittsburgh. Much of it eventually lands on the streets of Arizona, a state that’s done more than any other to welcome tests of unproven self-driving software to public roads.

The death this week of a 49-year-old woman in Tempe, who suddenly stepped in front of a self-driving Uber Technologies Inc. SUV, highlights the risk of the state's laissez-faire approach to the emerging technology. Developers flocked to the desert state in response to policies that were designed to encourage testing and minimize red tape. That approach is coming under scrutiny after what’s likely the first pedestrian death linked to an autonomous vehicle.