Uber’s use of fewer safety sensors prompts questions after Arizona crash

The lidar sensor is seen on a self driving Volvo vehicle, purchased by Uber, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., December 1, 2017. Photo taken on December 1, 2017. REUTERS/Natalie Behring

TEMPE, Arizona/PITTSBURGH: When Uber decided in 2016 to retire its fleet of self-driving Ford Fusion cars in favour of Volvo sport utility vehicles, it also chose to scale back on one notable piece of technology: the safety sensors used to detect objects in the road.

That decision resulted in a self-driving vehicle with more blind spots than its own earlier generation of autonomous cars, as well as those of its rivals, according to interviews with five former employees and four industry experts who spoke for the first time about Uber's technology switch.