California?s DMV just shut down Uber?s autonomous vehicle pilot Just about a week ago, Uber?s semi-autonomous vehicles hit the streets of San Francisco as part of its latest pilot program. Last night, the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the registrations of Uber?s 16 vehicles, and the company says it?s taking its program to another city for a public trial. What went wrong"
After a fairly seamless, high-profile launch in Pittsburgh, the rollout in San Francisco was bumpy right from the beginning. First, the DMV issued a warning to Uber that it had not obtained the proper testing permits for its pilot program. Then, a few hours after the trial began, The Verge reported that one of Uber?s cars ran a red light, nearly hitting a (human-driven) Lyft car.
Uber reviewed the case and determined it was actually the fault of the human driver sitting in the car?remember, Uber still has human drivers who can ?take over? from the self-driving system as needed.
Then there was the bike lane problem. Uber?s vehicles had a nasty habit of driving into San Francisco?s bike lanes without warning. This was not the fault of humans but a software error, claimed Uber, noting that the problem had not come up in Pittsburgh, which also has a robust cycling network. Uber pledged to fix it.
Meanwhile, Uber?s spokespeople were busy performing some kind of Jedi mind trick-level PR, trying to convince journalists that the company didn?t apply for the permits ?which cost $150 ea...