Uber Self Driving Cars: Company Defies California Government Demand To Stop Autonomous Driving, Technology Vs. Law

If there is Uber, there must be rumors and controversies. In a recent act of defiance against public authorities, Uber is refusing to take off its self-driving cars off the roads of San Francisco. Uber has been reported told that the Uber self-driving cars are illegal but it is refusing to comply with the directions. 

In recent news, Uber had started to pick up passengers in specially-modified Volvo self-driving cars on the streets of California. The testing had started this Monday itself. However, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the DMV, redirected Uber to first get the necessary permits for such ventures. Uber, however, stated that it did not need to get any permit for the reason that a safety driver is always sitting at the wheel. They have continuously ignored the demands of the authorities. "It is illegal for the company to operate its self-driving vehicles on public roads until it receives an autonomous vehicle testing permit," addressed Brian Soublet, an authority from California DMV in a letter to Uber. 

The California Attorney General, who is the most senior lawyer representing the government, has told the taxi company that it must cease the operations of the Uber self-driving cars or it is likely to face serious legal actions. The spokesperson on behalf of the Attorney General's office did not specify what exactly this action would be like, but is suffices to presume that it should be a binding court order. The court order would direct Uber to carry out the state demand.

Why are Uber Self-Driving Cars illegal?

Other companies testing the self-driving technology, such as tech giant Google, have applied and received the necessary permit. The permit costs about $150 for 10 vehicles and additional 10 vehicles are going to cost $50 per vehicle.

However, it does not seem like Uber is taking any of these warnings seriously. Uber's VP, Anthony Levandowski was not at all ruffled by these demands and stated his "respect" for the officials in a recent conference with media. However, he reiterated that the regulations were not even applicable on Uber self-driving cars.

According to Anthony, the permit only applies to cars that could operate "without the active physical control or monitoring of a human operator". Uber's cars need a human, he said - although the company still intends to refer to the vehicles as "self-driving cars."

Levandowski also referred to the case of Tesla's autopilot mode in their cars which makes the artificial intelligence take control of the vehicle and drive around. He compared Uber's situation to this technology saying that if autopilot does not require a permit, Uber's technique is not vastly different and hence, does not demand a permit either. Uber has requested DMV to clarify on this issue after taking note of this argument. It should be noted that Google cars have a human driver behind the wheel at all times.