Automakers and Google balk at California's self-driving rules
A group of industry leaders disagrees with the state's proposed regulations.
Google and a cadre of automakers are not happy about the state of California's proposed rules for autonomous vehicles, which they say would severely slow their progress towards a self-driving future. Although the state legislature approved autonomous trials last month, the group objected to the state's decision to require certain regulations that the federal government made voluntary it its own policy.
The group of tech and car companies protesting the regulations includes General Motors, Volkswagen, Honda and Ford, as well as the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets, which counts Google, Lyft, Uber and Volvo among its members. According to Reuters, the group laid out its concerns during a hearing in Sacramento this week and mainly objected to the state's decision to require a new autonomous vehicle data recorder. They also objected to giving police the ability to request self-driving data without a warrant or a subpoena, and a separate proposal that they claim would force them to wait an entire year between testing a new vehicle and getting it rolling on public streets.
While certain elements of the state regulations are fairly progressive -- California will allow for true driverless car without a steering wheel, for example -- one major sticking point is the state's idea to let local cities or counties set their own rules regarding autonomous vehicles. As Google's director of safety Rod Medford told Reuters, that would be "unworkable" because it could lead to a scenario where a test vehicle would be unable to travel from point A to point B.
For its part, a spokesperson for the California DMV said the state will entertain suggestions and continue to consider changes while the rules are still in the proposal stages. At the moment, however, the state has no timeline for getting them finalized.
