Jan 6, 2017

Uber self-driving car saga continues in California

The backlash to Uber's botched San Francisco self-driving car test continues, with a new proposed law that would impose penalties on companies that don't get the right permits to test their self-driving vehicles. The bill's sponsor in the state assembly didn't mince words in a statement:

"The pursuit of innovation does not include a license to put innocent lives at risk."

Quick take: This is another signal that not every jurisdiction will abide by Uber's move-fast-and-break-things rollout of its driverless car tech. Axios emailed the company for comment but hasn't heard back.

But wait: Uber (unsuccessfully) claimed the whole time that it didn't need approval to test the cars because they don't meet the legal definition of autonomous. This bill doesn't modify that definition.

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