Driver of the Day: Nobody Because Uber’s Self-Driving Cars Are Here

Wouldn’t be great if your Uber driver didn’t have to put their hands on the wheel and could spend all their time looking at their phone?

That Utopia is now a reality for San Fransisco users in need of a ride somewhere.

Uber, the ride-share company that has all sorts of problems with labor and drivers assaulting riders, is cutting out the driver entirely. They are launching a fleet of self-driving cars to pick people up and drive them to the airport.

via GIPHY

Of course, there are still people in the driver’s seat for the time being, but it’s only a matter of time before Uber realizes that the car can just drive itself, hence the name “self-driving car.”

Actually, there's a spefic reason for the driver: Legal loopoles! Because they’re the bad boys of the ride-share industry, they don't have to follow the law for these cars, which aren’t really street legal yet.

According to NPR, “Uber has started offering rides in self-driving cars in San Francisco without a permit for autonomous vehicles — defying state regulators, who say the permit is mandatory.”

“Wired magazine suggests Uber is exploiting a loophole of sorts, noting that the regulations, as written, apply to cars that have ‘the capability’ of driving without a person monitoring them. Uber is effectively arguing that its cars' autonomy ‘isn't good enough’ to require a permit, Wired writes.”

Isn’t that great, putting your life in the hands of a company who exploits a loopole because self-driving cars are cool or something?