California proposes rules for self driving vehicles

The California Department of Motor Vehicles released on Wednesday a proposal regulating self-driving vehicles.

California’s go-slow approach could benefit Texas, which this summer emerged as a competitor in the deployment of self-driving cars when officials in the capital Austin welcomed Google prototypes for professional testing. They must be ready to take over from the computer at any time should it encounter a problem.

The rules also require that a human driver still be present. Firstly, manufacturers must certify that their autonomous cars comply with safety and performance standards and must allow the vehicles to undergo an independent performance verification carried out by a third-party. And as a condition of their three-year deployment permits, vehicle makers will have to report monthly on their performance, safety and usage.

The thing about regulations is that, unlike laws. they can be changed as conditions and politics warrant, so whatever the DMV does this year can be modified down the road as autonomous cars are perfected.

Self-driving vehicles would also need to be equipped with self-diagnostic capabilities that detect and respond to cyberattacks “or other unauthorized intrusions, alert the operator, and allow for an operator override”.

Though what this “approval” might look like is unclear, the mandate brings to mind some future Google self-driving auto terms of service agreement that requires passengers to acknowledge everything they say over the course of the ride will be analyzed to enable the company to display ads based on conversation topics.

California regulators have unveiled a roadmap that would let consumers begin using self-driving cars, though manufacturers would have to prove the emerging technology is safe before a licensed driver could get chauffeured around town.

The rules published on Wednesday are still just a draft.

The regulations will not simply be dictated from on high, however, but will be publicly consulted on first. It has also asked California Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology (PATH), a research program of the University of California, Berkeley, to conduct a review of the “behavioral competencies necessary to safely operate autonomous vehicles”.

What makes the policy more controversial among automakers is that California forbids them from selling self-driving cars.

The California DMV said more rules are to come and cited safety as its primary reason for putting in place tight controls for public use.

The DMV has scheduled two public hearings for early next year to take testimony on the proposed regulations. It sounds reasonable on the surface, but from Google’s vantage point, the DMV is essentially placing a ceiling on autonomous driving technology. Those collisions have been minor and the tech giants says each has been caused by drivers of other cars. The cars could be leased – but not sold – to the public.

Google’s move to put the self-driving cars up for hire will put it in direct competition with ride hailing services such as Uber and Lyft. “Nobody has the technology to prove the safety of software, and that is a fundamental limitation”.