Uber has been finding a spot in the headlines quite frequently for the past few weeks and most of them haven’t really been pretty. From the sexual harassment reports by ex-Uber engineer to the video of Uber CEO getting into a heated argument with a driver and a lot in between, the ride hailing giant has been going through a rough phase to say the least.

Not long ago, some internal leaks from the company revealed that Uber lied about its driverless test vehicle in San Francisco being under human control when it was caught on camera running a light. California DMV asked Uber to shut the testing process even before the incident came to light because of the lack of required permits. Uber was ready with a response even before it happened but that couldn’t really help it make any progress in the region.

An Uber statement said, “First, we are not planning to operate any differently than in Pittsburgh, where our pilot has been running successfully for several months. Second, the rules apply to cars that can drive without someone controlling or monitoring them. For us, it’s still early days and our cars are not yet ready to drive without a person monitoring them.”

Now however, some news reports suggest that instead of bullying its way around regulations, Uber has decided to get a permit from the California DMV to resume testing its driverless vehicles on public roads in the state. Back in December when Uber was initially asked to stop testing, it took its fleet to Arizona soon after.

Recently the vehicles made a comeback to the state roads but neither were they being driven in autonomous mode nor were they picking passengers. Instead, they were being used to contribute to the maps Uber has been building to improve its service and in long run, contribute to driverless car operations.

It appears that Uber has now decided that it is more important for the company to make progress with the developments than debating with the regulators on whether it requires special permissions or not.

Source

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Uber started testing its driverless cars in San Francisco on Wednesday as an expansion to its original launch of the service in Pittsburgh earlier this year. CEO Travis Kalanick shared a video about Uber’s driverless car and how it works. However, only a few hours after the driverless Volvos started rolling out on the San Francisco streets, California Department of Motor Vehicles issued statement saying that Uber was operating these vehicles illegally.

Uber has previously stated that it doesn’t require these permits as a driver will be in the seat ready to take control of the vehicle. According to them, the rules apply to vehicles that can drive without someone controlling them. Their blog post talks about the permits and it says “We have looked at this issue carefully and we don’t believe we do.”

“First, we are not planning to operate any differently than in Pittsburgh, where our pilot has been running successfully for several months. Second, the rules apply to cars that can drive without someone controlling or monitoring them. For us, it’s still early days and our cars are not yet ready to drive without a person monitoring them.”

However, that hasn’t stopped DMV from telling Uber that it will face legal action if it doesn’t comply. It has also been reported that before the orders were issued, Uber’s test vehicle was also caught on camera running a red light. Uber holds that it was a driver error and the vehicle was not part of pilot and wasn’t carrying customers.

Google, Tesla and General Motors already have permits to test driverless vehicles in the region. Uber isn’t new to issues with the regulators and has been in the legal grey area on numerous occasions.

Getting a DMV permit to test driverless cars isn’t very complicated. The companies are required to have a significant amount in insurance and need to show that the test drivers are adequately trained, both not a problem for Uber. However it would also mean that Uber will have to report every detail of all the vehicles being tested, including when drivers have been driving in manual. Google publishes its monthly reports giving a detailed account of the same. It could be the reason Uber is resisting the idea of a driverless permit and actually emphasised the point in the blog post even before any initial challenges appeared.

The post Uber was defending the regulatory hurdles with driverless cars in San Francisco even before they appeared appeared first on TravHQ.