Uber self-driving
A self-driving Volvo XC90 by Uber in San Francisco, the US. Credit: Dllu.

Uber has resumed the testing of its self-driving vehicles in the US city of San Francisco two years after it scaled down its autonomous car testing programme following a fatal crash.

The company restarted testing with two Volvo XC90 vehicles equipped with its self-driving systems.

Tests will initially be restricted to daylight hours and will continue for a few weeks. Each of the vehicles will have a safety driver during the operations.

An Uber spokesperson was quoted by media sources as saying: “We are excited to resume autonomous testing in Uber’s home city this week.

“Our testing area will be limited in scope to start, but we look forward to scaling up our efforts in the months ahead and learning from the difficult but informative road conditions that the Bay Area has to offer.”

Last month, Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), which is involved in the development of autonomous mobility solutions, secured the permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to restart testing.

In March 2018, Uber suspended its self-driving vehicle testing operations after an autonomous car killed a pedestrian crossing a street.

The incident happened in the US state of Arizona. It was reported that the vehicle was travelling at a speed of nearly 65km/h in autonomous mode when it hit the victim, Elaine Herzberg, aged 49.

With the latest addition, Uber’s self-driving cars are running on five North American cities. The list includes Pittsburgh, Dallas, Washington DC and Toronto.