California will be allowed to test cars with autopilot and without drivers

According to the documents submitted by the California Department of Motor Vehicles and Roads, more than forty companies are now registered on the territory of the state working on the creation of autonomous driving systems. Among them there are developers of ready-made universal solutions suitable for most machines, as well as companies that create their own cars from scratch or are working to introduce their own developments into certain models. Now there are about 300 cars with autopilot on the territory of the state, which are continuously updated and tested. And it seems, soon unmanned cars will be allowed to move on ordinary roads without a driver in the cabin.

Yesterday, officials of the department presented the revised provisions to the legislation, according to which developers will have the opportunity to test their unmanned vehicles without rudders, pedals, rear-view mirrors and drivers driving on ordinary municipal roads.

This does not mean that now everyone will be able to test haphazardly and at their own discretion, creating a threat to road safety, but now the developers will have an opportunity to run off work in urban conditions. The main thing is not to forget to apply in advance. In addition, now they will have to report on the results of the tests, and if their car has not yet left on the autopilot from the garage, it will first have to be tested with the driver sitting behind the wheel for monitoring. The results of the first tests will also need to be sent to the department, where special attention will be paid to cases where the software has not coped with the situation without human help.

But this is not enough, because to get permission to test developers still have to go to a special department of the US government - that's where they decide who to issue a license for testing, and who should be kept in the garage for the time being.

In two weeks, the provisions will be submitted for approval to the state government. If everything goes well, the new rules for car owners with autopilot and manufacturing companies will come into force by the summer of 2018.

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/technology/v-kalifornii-razreshat-testirovat-avtomobili-s-avtopilotom-i-bez-voditelej.html.