Uber halts California self-driving cars test www.bbc.com
Ride-sharing firm Uber has suspended its test of self-driving cars in San Francisco after regulators revoked the registration of the vehicles.
Authorities had threatened legal action if Uber did not obtain a special permit to test the cars.
Passengers had recently been given the option of a booking a self-driving vehicle..
But because they came with a safety driver and were not fully autonomous, Uber argued it did not need the permit.
"We're now looking at where we can redeploy these cars, but remain 100% committed to California and will be redoubling our efforts to develop workable statewide rules," Uber said.
San Francisco is Uber's second trial city for the new technology. In Pittsburgh, the company has been running its driverless trial since September and has not required special permits.
Although the cars are promoted as "self-driving", they must constantly be monitored by an actual driver who can take control any time the software should fail.
Uber says its technology is not sophisticated enough to have cars continuously drive by themselves - and therefore the permit demanded in San Francisco is not needed.
The trials are designed for the firm to identify flaws and glitches in the technology behind the autonomous driving.
Published Date:2016-12-22