California Halts Self-Driving Ubers

CARS.COM — Uber and the state of California have agreed to disagree over what defines a self-driving vehicle, at least for now. The San Francisco-based ride-hailing company recently introduced a fleet of self-drive taxis onto the streets of its hometown. The only problem: Uber didn’t apply for the required state permits that would have made the vehicles legal.

Related: Uber Launches Test of Autonomous Cars in Pittsburgh

As reported by The Detroit News, this brazen maneuver did not sit well with California’s Department of Motor Vehicles. The DMV quickly issued Uber an ultimatum to either get the permit or get these cars off public roads. Uber’s move probably didn’t go over well with nearly two dozen other automakers and tech companies currently operating self-drive prototypes on California roadways, all with the necessary paperwork to do so.

Uber, which earlier this year was given a market valuation of more than $60 billion, staunchly refuses to hand over the $150 per vehicle needed to make each of its 16 self-drive taxis legal. The company’s fleet, each one based on the Volvo XC90 SUV, would require an extra $2,400 investment to appease California’s DMV. So what is Uber thinking by avoiding a paltry fee to make its highly sophisticated — and undoubtedly hugely expensive — test vehicles compliant with state law?

Privacy is a key issues, for starters. If Uber operated self-drive prototypes in California with the necessary permit, any crashes or driving incidents would have to be officially reported and made public. Apparently, Uber doesn’t like the idea of sharing, or losing face if anything was to happen to its high-tech machinery.
Uber is also countering that the vehicles in its autonomous taxi fleet aren’t truly self-driving vehicles. A human operator (i.e., a driver, to use that old-fashioned term) is onboard at all times, should the vehicle need manual intervention to cope with traffic conditions. This, according to Uber, should make a self-driving permit unnecessary. It’s worth noting that, with the proper permit, these moments of manual control/intervention would also have to be logged and made public knowledge.

While Uber has relented for the moment, the company is likely to test California’s legal waters in the near future. Self-driving vehicle technology is moving at a rapid pace, and the legal framework needed to keep this technology safe is racing to keep up.