California has enacted legislature on Tuesday allowing permits for self-driving cars, reports USA Today.
The permits, however, will be restricted to three major players in the niche, namely Volkswagen (for their Audi brand), Mercedes Benz, and Google. All three companies received their permits on the same day California's new laws regulating self-driving cars took effect.
A spokesperson from Audi says "California roads are especially crucial to Audi Piloted driving testing because the state is home to the brand's Electronics Research Lab."
"ERL engineers are working on a wide range of automated driving issues, including human-machine interface prompts" that show if the vehicle is self-driving or whether a human is manually operating the controls," he added.
John Anon of Android Headlines writes in his article, "With constant pit stops for the next iced caramel latte and bouncing between yoga appointments, CA drivers can be forgiven for not paying too much attention to the road. However from today, CA drivers might have to be a little more vigilant when out and about on the sunny highways as California has now become the second US state (following Nevada) to issue permits to self-driving cars."
For commuters who worry about having to deal with "ghost cars" sharing the road with them, Anon says not to worry.
He explains that "so far only three permits have been issued which is not much when considering the number of registered vehicles in CA easily surpasses 30 million. Although these cars are driver-less by law the permits can only be used if an 'operator' remains in the driver's seat at all times. So the news of these permits is probably not as scary as the headline sounds."
California's Dept. of Motor Vehicles director Jean Shiomoto stated in the official press release, "Autonomous vehicles are the future of transportation. The potential safety and mobility benefits are enormous. Testing on public roads is one step to developing this technology, and the DMV is excited in facilitating the advancement of autonomous vehicles in California."
