In the same way as the technology of self-driving cars has been developed, the perspective of the authorities towards it has also changed. Federal officials are beginning to reconsider their position, just as Anthony Foxx, the Transportation Secretary, announced an update will come to the nation’s self-driving car policy in coming weeks.
Two years ago, the U.S. Department of Transportation showed wary of the project. Among the statements given, they said that those cars should be limited to testing and that its use by the public should not be allowed.
The announcement came when they realized the progress that Google has made with the tests they have done to their own self-driving cars, which goes beyond its campus in Mountain View, and on the streets of California and Austin, Texas. Other companies like Tesla Motors, Nissan and Honda have also tested the technology equipped with a suite of sensors and cameras on public streets and highways, but with drivers ready to take control of the wheel.
“I want the posture of our agency to be obviously vigilant on the safety front, but I don’t want our agency to be skittish about innovations that are out there,” Foxx said, according to a report from the Associated Press.
Although Foxx was intrigued about the new technology, he has not clarified what the new policy was about. However, the man said he expected the update, supervised by his department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would be ready in weeks and not months.
So far, the regulations on self-driving cars have been at a state level. The legislatures of California, Nevada, Michigan, Florida and the District of Columbia have all approved bills regulating autonomous driving. Many other states have also considered such legislation.
Source: Tech Crunch