A look at California’s plan to make self-driving cars public

While autonomous cars are seen as the ultimate iteration of a passenger-only transportation future, the biggest leaps are now being made in the driver-assist arena.

SAN FRANCISCO – California regulators, calling for caution on self-driving cars, today proposed rules that would sharply restrict their use on the state’s roads – and place an outright ban on “driverless” cars that travel with no humans onboard.

The proposed regulations require certification and third-party testing for carmakers, as well as regular reports back to the DMV for a period of three years. The cars could be leased – but not sold – to the public. But, Uber awarded TomTom a contract in November to provide digital maps and traffic data for the software used by its drivers. An independent testing organization would have to verify those claims through a “vehicle demonstration test” of the car’s “ability to perform key driving maneuvers that are typically encountered in real-world driving conditions”.

California is scheduling two public workshops to discuss the draft regulations, one on January 28, 2016 in Sacramento, and the other in Los Angeles on February 2, 2016.

The draft set of rules released by the California Department of Motor Vehicles for a public comment phase would not allow for legal operation of an autonomous auto being tested by Google because it lacks a steering wheel or foot pedal controls.

Meanwhile, Ford announced it has enrolled in the California Autonomous Vehicle Tester Program and plans to test autonomous Fusion mid-size sedans in California next year on public roads.

Cyber-security warnings: Autonomous-vehicle manufacturers will have to notify operators of any “cyberattacks” on their vehicles. Now state regulators are looking towards their eventual deployment. California was not the first state to allow autonomous vehicles on its roads – Nevada issued the first permits in 2011 — but there are only four states as well as Washington, D.C. that allow these vehicles to use public roads.

“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, according to the Associated Press.

The company reorganized itself in August to separate the core web advertising business from newer ventures like driverless cars. The DMV said it wanted regulations to protect public safety, but not be too onerous so that signature companies such as Google will be stifled in developing a technology that could prove safer than human drivers. States like California are preparing for the day when driverless cars graduate from test fleets to consumer purchases. But Tesla has said regulations-or a lack of them-could hinder widespread use of the technology.

DMV officials said in a statement that the reason for these proposed rules is to help transition automakers and tech companies away from testing and toward eventual production and deployment.