Photo: Google
Lawmakers in the New York State are discussing the possible elimination of an old law, which currently restricts self-driving cars.
The law we are referring to was made in 1971, and it did not attack autonomous vehicles per se, but forbid drivers to operate a vehicle without one hand on the steering wheel while the car is in motion.
As most of you already know by now, Google has a self-driving car prototype that does not have conventional driving controls, so no steering wheel or pedals at all, so cars that can drive themselves are not allowed in the state until the situation is resolved.
While self-driving car technology is still years away from production-ready status, ongoing models with autonomous tech oblige their users to keep at least one hand on the steering wheel while the car is in motion.
However, fully autonomous vehicles will not require this from their operators, but nobody will be able to test them in the state of NY because of this law.
Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Joseph Robach proposed an adaptation of legislation that will allow drivers of vehicles that can park themselves to do so without risking a ticket.
As NY Daily News reports, Robach is not aware of any driver ticketed under the 1971 law, but corporations must follow these regulations to the letter if they want to test self-driving cars in the state. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, New York is the only state in the USA which has a law that requires at least one hand on the steering wheel while driving a vehicle. This is a clear case of good intentions of the past that are becoming obsolete in certain conditions of modern times.
Robach’s bill was approved by the Senate, but still has to convince the Assembly. His naysayers claim the technology is still unproven, and believe the tech must handle stressful traffic scenarios before getting legislation adapted to it.
Meanwhile, companies involved in the self-driving car battle claim their products will match and exceed human driving performance in all traffic conditions. Since humans required a law to keep at least one hand on the wheel, this might not be hard to do for the robot drivers of the future.
As most of you already know by now, Google has a self-driving car prototype that does not have conventional driving controls, so no steering wheel or pedals at all, so cars that can drive themselves are not allowed in the state until the situation is resolved.
While self-driving car technology is still years away from production-ready status, ongoing models with autonomous tech oblige their users to keep at least one hand on the steering wheel while the car is in motion.
However, fully autonomous vehicles will not require this from their operators, but nobody will be able to test them in the state of NY because of this law.
Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Joseph Robach proposed an adaptation of legislation that will allow drivers of vehicles that can park themselves to do so without risking a ticket.
As NY Daily News reports, Robach is not aware of any driver ticketed under the 1971 law, but corporations must follow these regulations to the letter if they want to test self-driving cars in the state. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, New York is the only state in the USA which has a law that requires at least one hand on the steering wheel while driving a vehicle. This is a clear case of good intentions of the past that are becoming obsolete in certain conditions of modern times.
Robach’s bill was approved by the Senate, but still has to convince the Assembly. His naysayers claim the technology is still unproven, and believe the tech must handle stressful traffic scenarios before getting legislation adapted to it.
Meanwhile, companies involved in the self-driving car battle claim their products will match and exceed human driving performance in all traffic conditions. Since humans required a law to keep at least one hand on the wheel, this might not be hard to do for the robot drivers of the future.
Google News