WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Uber has ditched its plans for self-driving car testing in California for the near future, according to a letter from the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
The ride-hailing service's move to end its autonomous car testing comes after a crash in Tempe, Arizona on March 18, which killed a pedestrian.
After that fatal accident, the ride-hailing company suspended its driverless car testing in Tempe, Pittsburgh, Toronto and San Francisco, the four cities where it conducts the testing.
'In addition to this decision to suspend testing throughout the country, Uber has indicated it will not renew its current permit to test autonomous vehicles in California,' wrote Brian Soublet, Deputy Director & Chief Counsel, California Department of Motor Vehicles, in a letter to Austin Heyworth, Public Affairs Manager, Uber.
Uber's current permit that authorizes it to test autonomous vehicles on California public roads will end on March 31, 2018.
Uber needs to apply for a new permit if it needs to resume autonomous testing in California. 'Any application for a new permit will need to address any follow-up analysis or investigations from the recent crash in Arizona and may also require a meeting with the department,' Soublet wrote.
Investigations in to the crash are being conducted by a number of agencies, the Tempe Arizona Police Department, the National Highway Traffic Administration, and the National Transportation Safety Board.
'We decided to not reapply for a California DMV permit with the understanding that our self-driving vehicles would not operate on public roads in the immediate future,' Uber said in a statement.
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