Uber threatened with legal action over safety of self-driving cars in California
Company said earlier they wouldn’t sign up to state regulations about autonomous cars ‘as a matter of principle’ because they have back-up drivers
UBER has been threatened with legal action after it vowed to keep its self-driving cars on the road despite concerns over its safety.
Earlier this week footage emerged showing one of the company’s cars drive through a red light just as a pedestrian was about to cross.
Now local authorities in San Francisco, California, have threatened to haul them up before a judge if the service is not suspended immediately.
In a sharply worded letter, attorneys with the California's Department of Justice demanded that Uber get a special state permit if it wants to continue.
If not, “the attorney general will seek injunctive and other appropriate relief”, according to the letter.
Though there was no deadline in the letter, a spokeswoman for California transportation regulators, Melissa Figueroa, told The Associated Press in a text that the state would take action "early next week" if Uber doesn't comply.
He said: “We cannot in good conscience sign up to regulation for something we’re not doing.”
He added: “It’s an important issue of principle about when companies can operate self-driving cars on the roads and the uneven application of statewide rules across very similar types of technology.”
He continued: “You don’t need a belt and suspenders … if you’re wearing a dress.”