Last week, the state of Nevada passed a bill that will require its state Department of Motor Vehicles to draw up rules for self-driving cars, essentially paving the way for autonomous vehicles to be used on state roadways.
Section 8 of the law, which governs autonomous vehicles, will take effect on March 1, 2012. It was approved by Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval on June 16.
Self-driving cars have been tested by Google since 2010, and most recently by Volkswagen, whose Temporary Auto Pilot (TAP) car is part of a research project in the EU, but with what the company describes as "production-ready" components.
Nevada defines "autonomous vehicle" as a motor vehicle that uses artificial intelligence, sensors and global positioning system coordinates to drive itself without the active intervention of a human operator.
The law does not mean that self-driving cars will instantly be "street legal" next year. Instead, it tasks the Nevada DMV to come up with a series of regulations surrounding all aspects of ownership and operation of autonomous vehicles, some or all of which will undoubtedly be used as models for the rest of the country.
For example, the law requires the Nevada DMV to adopt regulations authorizing the operation of autonomous vehicles, and the requirements that such a vehicle must have before it can be operated on a state highway. It also requires the DMV to develop insurance standards to test and operate the self-driving cars, as well.
Finally, the law requires the DMV to set forth such requirements as the DMV deems to be necessary.
One might argue that Google has already tested its self-driving cars extensively; when the company announced them in 2010, Google said that Google engineers have already driven a fleet of them around the San Francisco Bay Area, to the tune of over 140,000 miles.
May be a must for cell phone users, those that drink and drive...?