California DMV proposes restrictions on self-driving cars; Google disappointed

With Silicon Valley tech majors in the state getting closer to rolling out autonomous vehicles, the department of motor vehicles has been fine-tuning its set of safety regulations.

California’s proposed rules are subject to public comment and will not be final for months.

The Google prototype lacks steering wheels and pedals.

Google has already criticized the draft regulations, saying in a statement to The New York Times of its autonomous vehicle development: “Safety is our highest priority and primary motivator as we do this”.

The operator won’t be able to sit back and take their eyes off the road. This is in addition to the manufacturer being required to certify the robot vehicle meets safety and performance standards, according to Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit advocacy group that is closely following the proceedings.

Under the new rules, initial permits for self-driving cars would be for three years, and the manufacturers would need to prove that their autonomous cars are safe.

CYBERSECURITY AND DATA PRIVACY: Drivers would have to agree to let manufacturers collect data “that is not necessary for the safe operation of the vehicle”.

Google is not happy with the preliminary rules California issued Wednesday to regulate the production and sales of self-driving vehicles.

California has released its first ever regulatory proposal for self-driving cars, which requires a licensed driver to be present in the auto to take control of it in case of technical failure or emergency. “We’re glad the DMV has taken that approach”. Google will be hoping to sway the DMV with its arguments, failing which, the company many not have any option, but to fall in line with the state’s proposals. Google officials, who are testing the cars on the streets of Mountain View, have said they would be ready for the public within five years.

The draft also adds requirements for manufacturers to ensure that vehicles are protected from cyber attacks.

The DMV anticipates publishing rules governing such fully driverless cars in the future.

A Ford Fusion prototype autonomous vehicle shown outside the company’s research lab in Palo Alto, California. If Google goes ahead with this plan than they might be faced with some serious competition such as Uber, who is also looking at the same kind of service. Those collisions have been minor, and the tech giants says each has been caused by drivers of other cars.

The cars aren’t sophisticated enough to analyze images on the fly and instead match them to a database of previously recorded images. If the latter scenario happens, Google will be an attractive and wealthy rival to traditional vehicle makers and even for the open-to-new Tesla. “Nobody has the technology to prove the safety of software, and that is a fundamental limitation”.

Google, which is under the newly formed parent company Alphabet, and others will have a chance to voice their concerns or support in public workshops on January 28 in Sacramento and on February 2 in Los Angeles.