Uber has recently felt the fire by California authorities as a variety of the company’s self-driving cars were reported to be committing traffic defilements in San Francisco during testing. Uber has yet to access the needed state permit to trial these types of vehicles, but the company has fought back stating that they don’t need one since each of the said vehicles have a driver that monitors each situation, set to take over the car if need be.
MSN reported that the company is currently testing a bunch of its Volvo XC90s within the city, fulling equipped with autonomous driving technology, however two of these cars were caught running through red lights on the very first day of testing.
The first Volvo was captured on a dashcam from an operations manager employed by the Luxor cab company. It reveals the Uber vehicle driving through a pedestrian crossing just seconds after the light turned to red. In another area of the city, someone within the public eye snapped a photo of an Uber XC90 running through a red light as well.
How did Uber respond to this? Well, the company released a statement saying that these incidents occurred because of human error. The statement added that it is because of this that Uber strongly believes in making streets safer by creating self-driving cars. The statement also indicated that the monitor drivers attached to both cars have been suspended as the company continues to look into the matter.
In retaliation, California regulators have written to the company, threatening to proceed with legal action, should Uber not stop the testing of these self-driving cars without a viable permit.
As per a statement by California’s DMV, the department feels it is vital that the company takes suitable measures to guarantee the safety of the public. The DMV goes on to add that if Uber does not confirm that they will stop this testing and move forward with steps to gain a permit, the organization will proceed with legal action.
This is certainly not the first time Uber has dealt with legal issues or criticism for that matter. From sexual harassment cases, to its drivers looking for a more sustainable contract, Uber is anything but, noncontroversial.
