Requiring a driver blocks any driverless-car commercial use – for example, functioning as robotic taxis, picking up and dropping off passengers at their destination.
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Google has expressed severe dissatisfaction with the newly-drafted regulations regarding self-driving cars that were published on Wednesday by California’s Department of Motor Vehicles.
Google’s vision of self-driving cars whose interiors have no driving controls could be thwarted in its home state of California.
The company will use self-driving cars in a ride-sharing operation that will be a separate business under its new Alphabet corporate umbrella, according to Bloomberg.
For starters, the DMV’s preliminary rules prohibit autonomous vehicles that don’t have a steering wheel or a brake pedal – Google’s cars have neither steering wheels nor pedals.
“Given the potential risks associated with deployment of such a new technology, DMV believes that manufacturers need to obtain more experience in testing driverless vehicles on public roads prior to making this technology available to the general public”, the agency said in a written summary of its draft regulations.
In addition to the mandatory installation of a steering wheel in driverless cars, the legislators will only allow licensed drivers to operate the vehicles. The driver will also be responsible for observance of traffic laws, even if the vehicle is self-driving.
“Safety is our highest priority and primary motivator as we do this”, he said.
This slightly dampens hopes that self-driving technology would enable those who are now unable to drive – such as people with disabilities – to get on the roads.
Safety will likely remain the major concern for automakers going forward. The tech-giant also promised to have test drivers on board after this incident. But some of the other rules are also significant. In other words, no privately-owned autonomous cars. This goes against the grain of Google’s statements to CBS News earlier this year that it would take “responsibility and liability” for accidents in its cars. Cars created to be completely driverless, like that being tested by Google, are to be initially excluded from being granted licenses until their safety and performance can be further evaluated and the regulations revised accordingly. This highlights the urgency to establish self-driving vehicles as a mainstream product in the very near future.
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Two public workshops addressing the draft regulations will take place at California State University in Sacramento on January 28 and at the Junipero Serra Building in LA on February 2.
