The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has ordered French autonomous shuttle company EasyMile to stop services in ten states after a 44-year-old woman fell from her seat when the shuttle made a sudden stop.
 
The incident happened in the Linden residential area of Columbus, Ohio. She fell from her seat while the shuttle was driving at a speed of 11.4km per hour and made an emergency stop.
 
“We operate at such low speeds precisely for this reason,” said a statement from EasyMile. “Our shuttles can make sudden stops when they detect a safety risk.”
 
The vehicles were being allowed on the road for testing in each of the ten states where NHTSA is performing its review. This service has now been suspended while the incident is investigated.
 
The Columbus shuttle service with two vehicles was launched as a one-year pilot just a month ago and funded through a $1.1m grant from the US Department of Transportation.
 
“It is paramount to EasyMile to use rigid safety protocols in every aspect of our technology,” said the statement. “We continuously work to improve it and the comfort of passengers, and are running test loops on the ground for further analysis into the suddenness of the stop. We also train our customer service ambassadors to remind passengers to hold on when the vehicle is in motion and place signage in the shuttles to the same effect.”
 
The company said it was working with partners and the NHTSA to be back in passenger service as soon as possible.
 
• Last month, EasyMile put its first autonomous shuttle to run in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, in mixed traffic conditions. Called Sam, for Südwestfalen autonom and mobil, it will transport passengers in several locations within the city of Drolshagen and is available to citizens free of charge from Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 4.30pm.