The bill, SB 1298, was duly approved last May 21 and was finally signed into law by Governor Brown in the presence in of its author, State Sen. Alex Padilla and Google co-founder, Sergey Brin, at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.
The bill is set to take into effect by next year. Also, it was said to establish safety and performance regulations for testing the automated cars on roads across the state. It further requires the California Department of Motor Vehicles to draft regulations by 2015.
According to the new law, there should always be a licensed driver behind the wheel, even though the car is computer–operated, for emergency purposes.
Google driverless car is a combination of technologies. These include radar sensors, video cameras, and artificial-intelligence software that helps steer. At present, Google is the most visible company working on such types of vehicles. However, previous reports claimed that other automakers have been experimenting with the same technology.
So far, Google has claimed that it has safely logged more than 300,000 miles in its cars. Although one of its vehicles was reportedly involved in a minor fender-bender, subsequent reports confirmed that the accident was purely excusable on the part of Google since it was manually-operated during the time of the accident.
Meanwhile, Brin strongly affirmed that said self-driving cars would be a lot safer than those cars driven by humans. He likewise believes that it can really significantly improve the quality of life for everyone. Also, the car is expected to end traffic congestion once it is made commercially available.
Incidentally, the approval of the law came after the State of Nevada passed the same legislation earlier this year. It makes California the second state to allow driverless cars in its roadways. In Florida, a similar move was supposed to be made but the same have just ended up the subject of political debate.
Consequently, a car accident attorney in Los Angeles feels so sorry for the State of Florida. Apparently, they overlooked the chance of significantly reducing car accidents within the state through the use of Google’s cars.
