Uber’s fleet of self-driving cars is leaving San Francisco for Arizona. The ride-hailing company made the move last week after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked vehicle registrations for all of Uber’s self-driving cars launched in San Francisco earlier this month.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey encouraged Uber to test its vehicles on his state’s public roads.
“Arizona welcomes Uber self-driving cars with open arms and wide open roads. While California puts the brakes on innovation and change with more bureaucracy and more regulation, Arizona is paving the way for new technology and new businesses,” Ducey said in a statement.
The Detroit News reports that Uber began shipping a batch of its Volvo XC90 autonomous vehicles to Arizona last week, though it’s unclear how many it will test in the state. The report says Uber had registered 16 self-driving vehicles in California. The state revoked the registrations of those vehicles, claiming they lacked the necessary permit to test autonomous technology on public roads.
California considers autonomous cars as vehicles with the capability of driving “without the active physical control or monitoring of a natural person.” Uber argued it didn’t need a permit because the cars only operate with a person in the driver’s seat.
California disagreed and told Uber to apply for autonomous driving permits like other automakers and companies have.
In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle last Thursday, an Uber spokesperson, when asked if the company would apply for the permit, replied it has “no plans to do so today.”
In Arizona, Uber will essentially face zero regulations when it comes to testing autonomous vehicles. “Arizona is proud to be open for business,” Ducey said in a statement. “California may not want you, but we do.”
Source: The Detroit News, San Francisco Chronicle
The post Uber Moves Autonomous Testing from San Francisco to Arizona appeared first on Motor Trend.
from Motor Trend http://ift.tt/2hqQgPo
No comments:
Post a Comment