(Bloomberg) -- Google Inc.’s artificial-intelligence system will be interpreted as a driver by federal regulators, a step toward compliance that would help the tech giant’s self-driving cars hit U.S. roads.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration agrees with Google that its cars “will not have a ‘driver’ in the traditional sense that vehicles have had drivers during the last more than 100 years,” the agency said in a Feb. 4 letter to Chris Urmson, director of the company’s self-driving car project. Google asked NHTSA in a November letter for interpretation of safety standards in cars it seeks to produce without traditional controls, such as a steering wheel or throttle and brake pedals.
“If no human occupant of the vehicle can actually drive the vehicle, it is more reasonable to identify the ‘driver’ as whatever (as opposed to whoever) is doing the driving,” Paul Hemmersbaugh, NHTSA’s chief counsel, said in the letter. In Google’s case, its self-driving system “is actually driving the vehicle,” he wrote.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
