Nevada first state to authorize driverless cars

The Nevada becomes the first state to adopt self-driving car road rules. Msnbc's Alex Witt reports.

By Paul A. Eisenstein, The Detroit Bureau

The Jetsons would feel right at home in Nevada -- which this month became the first state in the nation to formally approve legislation authorizing the use of autonomous vehicles on its roadways.

The once far-fetched idea is becoming more and more grounded every day as manufacturers work to develop technology that could permit a motorist to plug in a destination and let the vehicle drive there automatically. Indeed, Google has become a leader in autonomous technology, with several prototypes already logging over 160,000 miles in test runs.

While most experts contend the technology is still years away from widespread application, Nevada lawmakers apparently couldn’t wait.  Last summer, lawmakers there ordered state regulators to establish rules covering the use of autonomous vehicles.

The regulations have now been finalized -- and the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles will now have to formalize licensing procedures for companies that want to test their vehicles in the state.

“Nevada is the first state to embrace what is surely the future of automobiles,” said Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles Director Bruce Breslow in a press release. “These regulations establish requirements companies must meet to test their vehicles on Nevada’s public roadways as well as requirements for residents to legally operate them in the future.”

The decision to act was apparently driven, at least in part, by Google, which has wanted to ensure that its autonomous vehicle test program wasn’t operating in a legal limbo.  Google formally launched its research and development program in 2010 and has so far recorded not a single collision.

While such vehicles will effectively handle the serious driving chores they will also require someone to be in the position of “operator,” ready to take over just in case of a technical glitch.  That’s likely one reason why Nevada maintained one key restriction in the new rules.

“There is no exemption for drinking and driving,” cautioned Breslow, meaning the bartender or bouncer won’t be able to toss you in the back seat, hit the Start button and send you speeding home.

On the other hand, regulators did give the operator permission to text and use a handheld cellphone.

The operator, at least for now, will need to have a special license.  And the vehicles will be required to use an airline-style “black box” to track its operation, with data to be turned over to the state.

Manufacturers will be required to post bonds of between $1 million and $3 million, meanwhile, and they will have to advise the state as to when and where they’ll be testing their vehicles.

Google is just one of the players in the rapidly expanding field.  General Motors has run several tests, including one that required the installation of special sensors in a stretch of Interstate highway north of San Diego.  It has also been working with Pittsburgh’s Carnegie-Mellon University on a self-driving Chevrolet Tahoe SUV, dubbed The Boss.

BMW, meanwhile, has a number of test vehicles in operation, including one that it recently took to the treacherous Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca near Monterey, California.

And Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval was given a personal demonstration of what the new law might cover when he was chauffeured in an autonomous Toyota Prius that used radar and other sensors to help guide it to its destination.

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Nevada OK's regulations for self-driving cars

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Nevada is envisioning a day when taxicabs might shuttle fares without a driver, or people with medical conditions that make them ineligible for a license could get around with a virtual chauffeur.

The concept took a big step when Nevada became the first state to approve regulations that spell out requirements for companies to test driverless cars on state roads.

"Then they have to take us out and prove that they can do it," Bruce Breslow, director of the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, said of the autonomous vehicles. "They're not ready to go to market yet,"

But Nevada intends to be ready when they are, and officials hope to stay ahead of other states such as Florida and Hawaii that are considering similar testing regulations, Breslow said.

Gov. Brian Sandoval took a test ride in a self-driving Toyota Prius in July. The car being developed by Google Inc. uses radar, sensors and computers that allow the vehicle to drive itself, though human drivers can override the autopilot function.

Companies that want to conduct testing in Nevada will need a bond of $1 million to $3 million, depending on the number of cars they plan to test. Firms also must lay out their specific intentions, such as testing a vehicle on urban roadways, or its ability to operate in the fog, rain or snow, and provide testing data to the state.

The cars must have two people in it at all times, with one able to take control. The new regulations approved last week also require companies to detail license requirements for people to operate them when they become available.

Cars must be equipped with a separate data collector — similar to the "black box" on an aircraft — that will "capture and store the autonomous technology sensor data for at least 30 seconds before a collision."

The regulations go beyond testing procedures, anticipating the day when driverless cars become a reality on the highways.

If a vehicle is certified as capable of being driven in autonomous mode without a driver, a person can operate the vehicle "without being physically present," one provision says.

Whether there's a human driver or not, the regulations hold the operator responsible regardless of whether the person is physically present in the autonomous vehicle.

The only exception to traffic laws is texting or talking on a hand-held cellphone. A law passed by legislators last year to ban texting while driving included a specific exemption for operators of self-driving cars on autopilot.

But the vehicles won't be a substitute for a designated driver after a night on the town, Breslow said.

"There is no exemption for drinking and driving," he said.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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