California Scraps Safety Driver Rules for Self-Driving Cars<br />“Safety is our top concern and we are ready to begin working with manufacturers that are prepared to test fully driverless vehicles in California.”<br />While most of the companies leading the race for driverless cars are based in California, some have started testing<br />autonomous vehicles in Arizona, where the state government has taken a more hands-off approach to the technology.<br />Waymo, the self-driving car unit of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, started testing<br />autonomous vehicles without safety drivers on Arizona roads in October.<br />The new rules also require companies to be able to operate the vehicle remotely — a bit like a flying military drone —<br />and communicate with law enforcement and other drivers when something goes wrong.<br />Uber has also deployed autonomous vehicles in Arizona, but it uses safety drivers in those cars<br />SAN FRANCISCO — California regulators have given the green light to truly driverless cars.<br />Taking the human out of the front seat is an important psychological and logistical step before truly driverless cars can hit the road.<br />“This is a major step forward for autonomous technology in California,” said Jean Shiomoto, director of California’s D. M.V.
