Uber?s self-driving program has never played by the rules, and now our safety is at risk Uber?s self-driving program arrived in Arizona under odd circumstances.
About a week after the company?s self-driving pilot program launched on the streets of San Francisco in December 2016, the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked Uber vehicles? registrations because the company hadn?t filed a $150 permit.
Instead of following California law, Uber loaded its 16 self-driving cars onto a flatbed trailer and drove them to Arizona. As they were en route, the state?s governor, Doug Ducey, issued a statement: ?Arizona welcomes Uber self-driving cars with open arms and wide open roads,? it read. ?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.? The flagrant flouting of California?s regulations, the dramatic, professionally photographed exodus?it all seemed less like the actions of a responsible global corporation and more like a bratty kid yanking away his toys after picking a fight.
?It?s not about picking a fight,? Anthony Levandowski, Uber?s self-driving program director, said at the time. ?It?s about doing the right thing. And we believe that bringing this tech to California is the right thing to do.?
A year later, Levandowski himself was accused of not doing the right thing. Levandowski, who had worked at Uber competitor Waymo when its self-driving operat...