Waymo's self-driving car crashes in Arizona, killing one person

Google's unmanned Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan was involved in a serious traffic accident in the US state of Arizona during testing as part of the Waymo self-driving taxi project, The Car Connection reported on May 6.

The incident occurred in the city of Chandler, a suburb of Phoenix, at the end of last week, the publication clarifies. The minivan was reportedly hit by a Honda car that drove into oncoming traffic.

Chandler police said the crash was caused by the driver of a Japanese car, who tried to avoid hitting another vehicle but lost control and hit a Waymo drone.

According to police, the Chrysler was driving in autonomous mode at the time of the incident with a person in the driver's seat for protection, who suffered minor injuries and was transported by ambulance to a local hospital where he was treated.

Both cars received serious damage and were towed from the scene of the accident, the publication writes.

Waymo (a Google subsidiary of Alphabet) began testing fully driverless cars on public roads in Arizona in November 2017, using Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans with a hybrid powertrain in partnership with the Italian-American concern Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).

In December, the Trov startup was launched, within the framework of which all passengers using the services of Waymo drones are provided with insurance against possible health damage and damage to their property during the trip, Kommersant notes.

At the same time, the press wrote that Waymo currently has the most advanced self-driving car technology compared to competitors Uber and General Motors , which also plan to launch their own robotic taxi service in the United States in the coming years

The current incident occurred a month and a half after the first-ever fatal accident involving an unmanned vehicle, which occurred in the same state. On the night of March 19, Uber's Volvo XC90 SUV killed a woman during testing on a public road in Tempe, Arizona. 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg was crossing the road with her bicycle and was hit by the wheels. She later died in hospital from her injuries.

At the same time, the city police did not see the drone’s fault in this accident. According to City Police Chief Sylvia Moir, neither the cameras nor the driver in the test vehicle noticed the pedestrian until the moment of the collision. It was also reported that the car, equipped with two cameras, made no attempt to brake. When video footage of the collision was released, it turned out that a woman was also driving the insurance drone.

An hour after the incident, Uber announced that it was suspending tests of driverless cars in Pittsburgh, Phoenix, San Francisco and Toronto. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board immediately announced that they were creating their own investigative teams to look into the incident.

A few days later, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey suspended Uber's drone testing in the state "in the interests of local residents." Uber later decided to stop testing driverless cars in California after a fatal accident in Arizona.

Other companies, including Japan's Toyota, are testing autonomous vehicles on public roads in the United States.