DETROIT (AP) – The federal government’s highway safety agency agrees with Google: Computers that will control cars of the future can be considered their driver.
The redefinition of “driver” is an important break for Google, which is testing pod-like autonomous cars. But the company still has a long journey ahead before cars without a human behind the wheel go on the road in great numbers.
Google wants the government to interpret regulations so self-driving cars can be delivered to the public without a steering wheel or pedals.
While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration agreed with Google’s “driver” reinterpretation in a recent letter, it didn’t allow other concessions and said numerous federal rules would have to be changed to permit the cars.
“NHTSA will interpret ‘driver’ in the context of Google’s described motor vehicle design as referring to the SDS (self-driving system) and not to any of the vehicle occupants,” Paul Hemmersbaugh, NHTSA’s chief counsel, wrote in the letter.