Regulator says Google’s self-driving cars count as drivers

“If no human occupant of the vehicle can actually drive the vehicle, it is more reasonable to identify the “driver” as whatever (as opposed to whoever) is doing the driving”, the NHTSA said.

While Google’s self-driving vehicle trial is going pretty well having racked up over a million miles on USA roads, the trouble is just that, all of Google’s testing is based purely on the right side of the road, so what about those of us who drive on the left?

When Google first proposed its current custom-designed self-driving cars, they lacked internal driver controls.

Google’s self driving auto does not have steering wheel, no brake pedals and no controls of any sort that the human occupant could operate to control the vehicle.

NHTSA sees promise in autonomous-driving technologies helping to bring down the more than 30,000 deaths from motor-vehicle crashes in the US every year.

Google self-driving cars rely on a mixture of software, sensors, Global Positioning System data, cameras and other gadgets to get them from A to B without input from the driver.

The companies involved in building self-driving cars complain that federal safety rules are impeding testing and eventual deployment of such vehicles.

The following development is an important achievement for Google and other companies developing autonomous auto technology.

While the letter is nether a formal policy ruling nor a recommendation, its tone suggests the agency is open to considering whether an artificial-intelligence system can be legally considered a driver. It famous present laws requiring some auto security gear cannot be waived instantly, together with necessities for braking techniques activated by foot management.

Google is “nonetheless evaluating” NHTSA’s prolonged response, an organization spokesperson stated on Tuesday. NHTSA raised the question of whether humans in the vehicles should also be made aware. Since the NHTSA is responsible for laying down the law on America’s roads, this represents a huge step for Google’s self-driving koala-bots.

A significant barrier to Google’s (GOOG, GOOGL) plan to put driverless cars on the roads has been removed, after the NHTSA supported its interpretation that a robot could meet the legal definition of a driver.

Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx said the initiative would provide consistency between states.