Uber Under Investigation Over Unauthorised Autonomous Tests

The inspection is to determine whether Uber broke Californian law when it tested driverless trucks on state highways without permission. According to California's laws, autonomous vehicles over 10,000 pounds (4536 kilogrammes) cannot be tested on California's roads.

The site inspection will investigate the full autonomous capabilities of Uber's self-driving trucks. If deemed autonomous, the company's truck testing could be deemed illegal, at least in the state of California.

The reason for Uber's troubles in California seems to be over the testing procedures in a document submitted to regulators in Colorado which details how operators are to engage the autonomous software and disengage it if problems arise.

In California, however, Uber told authorities that the trucks were being driven by drivers behind the wheel and not autonomously but an internal document that leaked online claimed that Uber was testing trucks outside San Francisco in contrast to what the company told regulators in February.

This isn't the first time that Uber had gotten into problems with autonomous testing regulators in California after the company refused to pay for test permits and found the registration fot its autonomous Volvos revoked.