Feds looking at rules for self-driving cars

Feds looking at rules for self-driving cars

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has held talks with Google and the automakers about the driverless cars they hope to introduce in several years.

Nevada, Florida and California have authorized testing of autonomous cars on their roads, and several other states and D.C. are considering it. In the current test vehicles, a driver must still be present and ready to take control of the wheel if necessary. The next step, though likely not available for ten years or so, would be for the driver to cede control completely after programming the destination.

In an industry gathering last week sponsored by Volvo and the Swedish Embassy, NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said that with human error a factor in more than 90 percent of traffic deaths, automated vehicles hold great promise for reducing vehicle crashes.

The technology could also be helpful to people currently unable to drive, such as the elderly and the blind, Strickland said.

Volvo plans to introduce a traffic jam assist system in 2014 that would let a car follow the car in front of it at up to 30 mph without the driver needing to use the accelerator or brake. Volvo officials are anxious to have a single federal rule covering the technology rather than state-by-state regulations.