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Operators ride inside one of Uber's self-driving SUVs along Penn Avenue n the Strip District in 2017.
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Report: Self-driving Uber swerved onto Pittsburgh sidewalk just days before fatal crash

Stephanie Strasburg / Post-Gazette

Report: Self-driving Uber swerved onto Pittsburgh sidewalk just days before fatal crash

Days before an Uber in self-driving mode struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Ariz., in March, a manager in the testing operations group told company executives and lawyers in an email that the vehicles were “routinely in accidents resulting in damage,” including in Pittsburgh.

That employee, Robbie Miller, said one of Uber’s autonomous Volvo SUVs swerved from the road and onto the sidewalk, where it continued driving, according to a report by The Information, an investigative news website that focuses on technology.

Mr. Miller alleged in an email that the episode was “essentially ignored” for days.

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Uber told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that a manager did send a response email to Mr. Miller, noting that the company would look into his claims and had a plan to review them.

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The company additionally said the Tempe crash occurred shortly after Mr. Miller’s email and his concerns were folded into the company’s top-to-bottom internal safety review. 

“Right now the entire team is focused on safely and responsibly returning to the road in self-driving mode. We have every confidence in the work that the team is doing to get us there,” an Uber spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement.

“Our team remains committed to implementing key safety improvements, and we intend to resume on-the-road self-driving testing only when these improvements have been implemented and we have received authorization from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.”

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Courtney Linder: clinder@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1707. Twitter: @LinderPG.

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First Published: December 11, 2018, 7:36 p.m.

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