Uber launched a fleet of self-driving Volvos this week in San Francisco to some fanfare, after which one of them promptly ran a red light. California officials are calling to suspend the pilot program until proper permitting is granted, leaving its status in limbo. Uber is chalking the traffic offense up to human error: the car actually had an Uber engineer behind the wheel, as all of its self-driving cars in San Francisco and Pittsburgh do.
“This incident was due to human error,” an Uber spokesperson said. “This is why we believe so much in making the roads safer by building self-driving Ubers. This vehicle was … not carrying customers. The driver involved has been suspended while we continue to investigate.”
California officials have been calling on Uber to follow state regulations governing autonomous vehicle testing.
“It is illegal for the company to operate its self-driving vehicles on public roads until it receives on autonomous vehicle testing permit,” the letter from DMV officials stated. “If Uber does not confirm immediately that it will stop its launch and seek a testing permit, DMV will initiate legal action.”
The ride-hailing company has argued that because its cars are “not ready” to operate without a “safety driver”, it is not required to have a safety permit, making the claim that its self-driving cars can’t fully drive themselves yet, and are therefore exempt.
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