California Scraps Safety Driver Rules for Self-Driving Cars

California Scraps Safety Driver Rules for Self-Driving Cars
“Safety is our top concern and we are ready to begin working with manufacturers that are prepared to test fully driverless vehicles in California.”
While most of the companies leading the race for driverless cars are based in California, some have started testing
autonomous vehicles in Arizona, where the state government has taken a more hands-off approach to the technology.
Waymo, the self-driving car unit of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, started testing
autonomous vehicles without safety drivers on Arizona roads in October.
The new rules also require companies to be able to operate the vehicle remotely — a bit like a flying military drone —
and communicate with law enforcement and other drivers when something goes wrong.
Uber has also deployed autonomous vehicles in Arizona, but it uses safety drivers in those cars
SAN FRANCISCO — California regulators have given the green light to truly driverless cars.
Taking the human out of the front seat is an important psychological and logistical step before truly driverless cars can hit the road.
“This is a major step forward for autonomous technology in California,” said Jean Shiomoto, director of California’s D. M.V.