The draft rules from the Department of Motor Vehicles released this week call for a specially licensed driver to be in the vehicle and able to take over control.
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However, since self-driving cars are not yet legal without a driver behind the wheel, even in states that allow for self-driving cars to be operated on public roads, Google would likely have to, at first, use the cars only on private property, shuttling students around on college campuses, business people in business parks or servicemen on military bases. Google has suggested a model could be ready for limited use sooner than the public expects.
Google plans to continue working with the California DMV in the coming months as the agency reviews feedback on the proposal. Google has denied the accusations, insisting it has no interest in manufacturing cars.
When driverless cars inevitably hit the market, the possibilities of the technology will be endless: no more drunk driving, you could send your kids or whomever out without having to stop what you’re doing, delivery services could send packages more efficiently, etc.
California is the go to place for many companies looking to test their self-driving cars, but the state is now proposing a new set of rules that could affect what it means to be a “driverless” vehicle. The agency claims manufacturers need to “obtain more experience” testing driverless vehicles on public roads before making the technology available to the general public.
Drivers would need special, manufacturer-provided training, then get a special certification on their licenses.
Alphabet Inc, (NASDAQ:GOOGL) top executives and engineers have always reiterated that their reason to offer driverless cars’ is to lower the 33,000 traffic accidents in the U.S. annually.
Google isn’t alone is bashing the proposed regulations.
Speaking with technology website re/code.net this week, a spokesperson for the California DMV said that the proposed rules are far from locked in.
Google said that their highest priority is the safety of their customer. California has not banned self-driving cars – an outright ban would be idiotic in light of estimates that automation could shrink automotive fatalities to a tenth of what they are now.
Manufacturers would also be approved for a “three-year deployment permit”, requiring regular reports on the performance, safety and usage of their autonomous vehicles. No. But it’s more cars on the road, and if human co-pilots turn out to be as useless as fallbacks as Astro Teller, the head of Google X division, has predicted, Google with have a pretty easy argument to make.
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The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers industry group was not publicly critical, perhaps because traditional automakers the group represents are phasing in features such as automatic braking and cruise control that adjusts to the speed of other vehicles – instead of jumping to a auto that drives itself, as Google envisions.
