Ride hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc. has expanded its trial of self-driving cars to San Francisco, but it ran into technological and political traffic on its very first day.

The San Francisco test started Wednesday morning with a fleet of 11 Volvo XC90 self-driving vehicles complete with two operators on board for each trip. The first person was described as a “safety driver” who sits behind the wheel and is able to take control of the vehicle should the technology fail. The other sits in the passenger seat, collecting and analyzing data from each trip to improve the technology behind it.

“Starting today, riders who request an uberX in San Francisco will be matched with a Self-Driving Uber if one is available,” Uber said in a blog post. “Expanding our self-driving pilot allows us to continue to improve our technology through real-world operations. With its challenging roads and often varied weather, [previous trial location] Pittsburgh provided a wide array of experiences. San Francisco comes with its own nuances including more bikes on the road, high traffic density and narrow lanes.”

Alas, not everything went smoothly on day one. For one, it turns out Uber did not apply for a permit to run the test, something the California Department of Motor Vehicles claims is required.

“The California DMV encourages the responsible exploration of self-driving cars,” the DMV said in a remarkably short statement. “We have a permitting process in place to ensure public safety as this technology is being tested. Twenty manufacturers have already obtained permits to test hundreds of cars on California roads. Uber shall do the same.”

Uber begs to differ, claiming that because there is a driver behind the wheel, the permit doesn’t apply. “We understand that there is a debate over whether or not we need a testing permit to launch self-driving Ubers in San Francisco,” the company noted. “We have looked at this issue carefully and we don’t believe we do … The rules apply to cars that can drive without someone controlling or monitoring them. For us, it’s still early days and our cars are not yet ready to drive without a person monitoring them.”

Or even with a person inside. One vehicle, presumably with the two operators, was caught going through a red light today:

Then a few hours later, according to The Verge, another Uber ran a light and apparently came close to hitting a Lyft vehicle, according to a passenger of the latter car. Uber reviewed both incidents, according to that report, and concluded the humans were at fault. “These incidents were due to human error,” a spokesperson said. “This is why we believe so much in making the roads safer by building self-driving Ubers. These vehicles were not part of the pilot and were not carrying customers. The drivers involved have been suspended while we continue to investigate.”

Image courtesy of Uber