Uber’s autonomous vehicle pilot facing glitches in Pittsburgh

It’s not even been a month, and Uber’s ambitious self-driving taxi pilot is already experiencing multiple problems in Pittsburgh.

Quartz has compiled several reports of mishaps and mess-ups involving Uber’s autonomous vehicles. On record, however, there is only one report where another vehicle bumped the fender of one of its taxis. As it was a human-induced situation, it was understandable but Uber’s autonomous fleet itself needs a lot more work before they add another 100 Volvo SUVs to the fleet by the end of this year.

In an incident that was captured by Nathan Stachelek on " target="_blank">video and posted on Facebook, one of Uber’s autonomous Ford Fusions failed to read the street sign and moved into a one-way street. The human driver sitting in the taxi immediately took over and manually turned it around, saving the car from a possible mishap had it been a busy road.

Quartz also reports another instance when an Uber’s self-driving taxi was pulled over by another car at the intersection, with the engineer inspecting the vehicle for any damages.

Uber already employs a number of safety precautions like backup human drivers and fixed places and hours of driving but all these glitches should help them improve on the technology.

The company also needs to work closely with local administration for data sharing so that every mishap or possible mishap gets recorded. This would only help Uber to better execute its plan.