# California: self-driving cars will not need licensed driver, given federal approval



## RamzFanz (Jan 31, 2015)

The department of motor vehicles' revised regulations, which will face an open hearing this month, allow the public to access driverless cars



Alphabet could gain the most from California's action on self-driving cars. Photograph: Eric Risberg/AP

California's department of motor vehicles said late on Friday the most advanced self-driving cars will no longer be required to have a licensed driver, if federal officials deem them safe enough.

The regulator released a revision of draft regulations that opened a pathway for the public to access self-driving cars, prototypes of which automakers and tech companies are testing.

The redrafted regulations will be the subject of a public hearing on 19 October, in Sacramento.

The California DMV has been wrestling for several years with how to oversee the emerging technology. In December, the agency released an initial draft of self-driving car regulations that required a licensed driver in any self-driving vehicle.

The automotive and tech industries reacted with great disappointment, as the ultimate vision of many companies is a car with no steering wheel or pedals. That approach is based on the argument that humans are not very good at driving, and cannot be relied on as a back-up to a car that typically drives itself.

The DMV's new document coincides with the release last week of a 112-page federal proposal under which any self-driving car should pass a 15-point safety assessment before the public can use it.

Among other things, the safety assessment asks automakers to document how the car detects and avoids objects and pedestrians; how hardened it is against cyber-attacks; and how its back-up systems will cope should the software fail.

In incorporating the federal approach, California dropped a proposal that a third-party company certify the safety of self-driving cars.

The new draft regulations released on Friday include several new provisions. Among them is wording that would prohibit advertising vehicles with lower levels of automation - such as Tesla Motors' Autopilot, which on divided highways can keep a car in its lane, brake and accelerate on the understanding that a person is paying attention all the time - from being advertised as "autonomous" or "self-driving".

The company that stands to gain the most from the state's embrace of cars without a wheel or pedals is Alphabet, where the Google self-driving car project envisions cars that allow no human control other than a start and emergency stop button.

A spokesman for the Google self-driving car project did not have a comment on the changes to the proposed regulations.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/01/california-self-driving-cars-licensed-drivers


----------



## RamzFanz (Jan 31, 2015)

Related article:

*New California Law Allows Test of Autonomous Shuttle With No Driver*

A bill signed into law on Thursday by California Governor Jerry Brown allows a self-driving vehicle with no operator inside to test on a public road, a key step enabling a private business park outside San Francisco to test driverless shuttles.

Self-driving cars are already allowed to test on California public roads by 15 automakers, technology companies and startups, including Alphabet's Google, Ford, Honda and Tesla. But under current state regulations, a person must be in the driver's seat for monitoring, and the car must have brakes and a steering wheel.

The bill introduced by Democratic Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla allows testing in Contra Costa County northeast of San Francisco of the first full-autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel, brakes, accelerator or operator.

A project at the Bishop Ranch office park in the city of San Ramon to deploy driverless shuttles from French company Easymile had been on hold pending passage of the bill. Easymile already operates the shuttles in Europe.

New legislation was necessary because although driverless vehicles can be tested on private land like the office park, the shuttle will cross a public road on its loop through the campus.

The new law means that two cube-like Easymile shuttles that travel no faster than 25 mph (40 kph) will be tested for a period of up to six months before being deployed and used by people.

In an interview with Reuters in March, Bonilla said the "natural tension" between regulators concerned about safety and lawmakers trying to encourage innovation in their state necessitated a new bill.

"They're risk averse and we're saying we need to open the door here and take steps (to innovate)," Bonilla said, calling the driverless shuttle project "a very wise first out-of-the- gate opportunity" to show how the technology could work safely.

Those working on self-driving vehicles believe their first real-world applications will be on campuses, business parks and other controlled environments with less traffic and fewer distractions than busy urban streets.

Google and others have complained that California state regulations on self-driving vehicles are too restrictive, and that a patchwork of state regulations is unwieldy. Google has begun testing in Texas, where laws do not address autonomous vehicles without drivers, steering wheels or brakes.

The federal government released a set of voluntary guidelines last week on autonomous vehicles, hoping to create a framework for states as they design rules governing robot vehicles.

http://fortune.com/2016/09/29/california-law-test-autonomous-shuttle/


----------



## ubershiza (Jan 19, 2015)

Oh helzno! How many thousands of taxi drivers will find themselves unemployed in the next 5 years? So Travis the unhuman nazzi can transport cheap azz souless millenniums from point a to point b.


----------



## Cole Hann (Aug 22, 2016)

ubershiza said:


> Oh helzno! How many thousands of taxi drivers will find themselves unemployed in the next 5 years? So Travis the unhuman nazzi can transport cheap azz souless millenniums from point a to point b.


Reality Check: it's Business, its America, it's the future. just figure out how to be part of it


----------



## ubershiza (Jan 19, 2015)

Cole Hann said:


> Reality Check: it's Business, its America, it's the future. just figure out how to be part of it


Your just another writer, unappreciative to the struggles of the hard working driver. If I might even suggest Travis brown noser.


----------



## Cole Hann (Aug 22, 2016)

ubershiza said:


> Your just another writer, unappreciative to the struggles of the hard working driver. If I might even suggest Travis brown noser.


agreed, when i follow the money it leads to a country club. follow the poor it leads to a homeless shelter.
i find the former more agreeable


----------

