The new testing rules from California's Department of Motor Vehicles challenge Google's fully autonomous cars by demanding a person in the driver's seat to take immediate control of the vehicle.
Google may be a generation ahead with its self-driving technology by doing away with steering wheel, brake and gas pedals, but the government is pulling the web giant down with some new rules. The California Department of Motor Vehicles issued new rules (PDF) requiring a driver to be able to take immediate physical control of the vehicle at any time. This law stands against Google's new prototypes requiring steering wheels and brake pedals to force such an action.
Google started testing its new two-seater fully autonomous car model in May, which drew attention for its missing physical controls like the steering wheel, gas pedal and brake. The web giant traded these standard controls in favor of buttons to control the vehicle's software. If Google wants to get its new prototypes on public roads, the cars must go under some modifications to include the standard controls.
The Mountain View, a California-based web giant, said it would comply with the state's regulations. "With these additions, our safety drivers can test the self-driving features, while having the ability to take control of the vehicle if necessary," a Google spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal.
The new laws will go into effect in mid-September, in time when Google plans to begin testing its prototypes on public roads, the Journal added.
Google currently has several unique projects in hand, besides the self-driving cars. The company calls its autonomous driving tech as "moon shots". Other projects under work at Google's experimental labs, Google X, include the wearable computer tech device Google Glass and Project Loon, which aims to bring Wi-Fi to the remotest places around the world using high-altitude balloons.
Before Google's self driving tech began testing on public roads, the web giant faced several obstacles from DMV, the state-run department responsible for operating driverless cars. Of late, the technology is widely being accepted as more automakers show interest towards autonomous vehicles.
