Uber is one of the most illustrative examples of 'it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission'.

They hope to outlast the laws against them until those laws are changed or entirely new ones are enacted [1], pay any fines -- not that there have been very many -- and all the while continue to offer rides below cost to starve their competition until they all disappear.

In this particular case, it seems they're not willing to let the DMV put them into this particular category (for whatever reason), so they'd rather fight or wait it out until different rules are created in their favor.

Although, I'm not sure what leverage they have over the State of California with this particular issue.

[1] http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M077/K1...

In this case, considering the issues that the cars have had already, and the tremendous pressure uber is under not to have their business technologically stolen from under them, I think someone realized their cars weren't in a position to acquire or maintain DMV approval and was gambling on being able to stall long enough to get their driving technology to that point.

The more I think about it, the more absolutely despicable that would be, if it were the case.

But, even in the best case, it's incredibly stupid, and dangerous to uber; do they want to be the first company to have a self driving car fatality? Whatever their reasons, they must be very desperate.