Uber self-drives over to Arizona after dumping California
Uber self-drives over to Arizona after dumping California
After the public spat with California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), Uber has announced it will transfer its 16 self-driving cars from San Francisco to Arizona.
The DMV revoked the registration of all Uber self-driving cars in the state two weeks ago, and called on the firm to file the correct permit. Uber argued that it didn’t need a self-driving permit, but a few days later, shut its self-driving operation down in San Francisco.
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At the time, Uber said it was 100 percent committed to having its cars registered in California, but declined to say if it would apply for the permit. It appears, with this move, that the company does not plan to work with the California DMV anytime soon.
“Our cars departed for Arizona this morning by truck,” said an Uber spokesperson in an email to The Verge. “We’ll be expanding our self-driving pilot there in the next few weeks, and we’re excited to have the support of Governor Doug Ducey.”
No special permits needed in Arizona
The ride-hailing company will most likely not have to apply for any special permit, meaning it will not need to pay for registration or send detailed reports of crashes to the state’s DMV.
“Arizona welcomes Uber self-driving cars with open arms and wide open roads,” said Governor Ducey in a statement. “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 firm is not the first self-driving firm to make a dash for Arizona, Google’s Waymo already tests a few of its self-driving fleet in the state. The issue is that Arizona has a similar climate in most areas to California, making it less valuable than Michigan or Norway, which have a chilly climate self-driving cars struggle to work in.
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