Uber Ships Self-Driving Cars to Arizona After California Ban

Uber Ships Self-Driving Cars to Arizona After California Ban
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A few days of regulatory tussles were enough for Uber to pull its fleet of self-driving cars from the streets of San Francisco and send them instead to friendlier territory in Arizona, according to Bloomberg. The California Department of Motor Vehicles banned Uber’s self-driving cars from San Francisco on Wednesday, just days after they first deployed. In response, Uber picked up and moved out.

“Our cars departed for Arizona by truck,“ Uber said in an e-mail. “We’ll be expanding our self-driving pilot there in the next few weeks, and we’re excited to have the support of Governor Ducey.“ Arizona Governor Doug Ducey wooed Uber on social media, when the ride-hailing company pulled its self-driving test from San Francisco. “California may not want you; but AZ does!“ he wrote on Twitter. The next morning, Uber’s fleet was headed his state’s way.

California’s move to revoke registrations for the vehicles affected 16 Uber automobiles, the DMV wrote in an e-mail. The agency also issued a letter to the company inviting it to apply for a registration for autonomous vehicle testing, saying it has a dedicated team to expedite the process. Uber said it had stopped using the cars in the state. Last week Uber began rolling out its self-driving vehicles in its hometown of San Francisco without seeking permission from the state’s DMV. The company argued it hadn’t behaved any differently than Tesla, which makes electric cars that include a feature called Autopilot.

Almost since its inception in 2009, Uber has run afoul of regulators in its home state and elsewhere, usually over taxi and labor rules. In the case of self-driving cars, Uber said its vehicles require oversight by a human driver and therefore shouldn’t qualify under California’s autonomous-driving rules. The state attorney general threatened legal action last week if the company continued operating the automobiles without a permit. Uber still operates self-driving vehicles in Pittsburgh, where the program began in September.