Uber forced into pulling self-driving cars in California

Ride hailing company Uber has been forced to withdraw 16 cars from the roads in San Francisco which were testing self-driving technology, after several reports of the vehicles ignoring red lights.

Government regulations were given last week for Uber to remove the cars from the streets in California, but the company rejected the claims.

On Wednesday however the Department of Motor Vehicles announced that it had revoked the registrations of the 16 vehicles, which had been filmed committing a variety of errors. Despite Uber's claims to the contrary, the body said it was necessary for such vehicles to have a special permit.

"It was determined that the registrations were improperly issued for these vehicles because they were not properly marked as test vehicles," the DMV said. "Concurrently, the department invited Uber to seek a permit so their vehicles can operate legally in California."

Uber responded to the decision by saying it intended to look to other states for testing the autonomous cars, but added that it remained focused on its operations in California.

"We're now looking at where we can redeploy these cars but remain 100 percent committed to California and will be redoubling our efforts to develop workable statewide rules," its statement read.