An Uber self-driving car was just caught on camera running a red light in San Francisco. Today was the first day the cars were testing passenger pickup on the open road there.
Uber says the incident was the result of human error; the vehicle was being driven by a person at the time the video was taken, and there were no passengers inside.
A YouTube user known as Charles Rotter posted a video of the vehicle as it failed to stop at a red light, and drove through a crosswalk with a person clearly about to cross the street.
Here's the video:
View this video on YouTube
Here's where the person who posted the video stops at the red light...
...and here's where what appears to be an Uber self-driving car blows right past it.
In his initial response to the video, Uber spokesperson Matt Kallman said in an email, "Safety is our top priority. These incidents have been reported and we are looking into what happened."
Meanwhile, the California DMV sent a letter to Uber today asking the company, which doesn't have a permit for autonomous vehicles, to cease the program.
Update: Uber says the car was controlled by a person at the time it ran the red light.
Per a spokesperson, "This incident was due to human error. This is why we believe so much in making the roads safer by building self-driving Ubers. This vehicle was not part of the pilot and was not carrying customers. The driver involved has been suspended while we continue to investigate."