As society enters an era where driverless cars are no longer just a pigment of one's imagination, a recent legal development has ensured a boost in the technology's future. U.S. vehicle safety regulators have recently considered the artificial intelligence system a valid driver under federal law.
Reuters reported Wednesday the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in a decision received by Google on Feb. 4, has deemed artificial intelligence a viable "driver" in the context of autonomous cars.
"NHTSA will interpret 'driver' in the context of Google's described motor vehicle design as referring to the (self-driving system), and not to any of the vehicle occupants," the agency said. "We agree with Google its (self-driving car) will not have a 'driver' in the traditional sense that vehicles have had drivers during the last more than one hundred years."
The decision was made in response to a proposal Google submitted to NHTSA Chief Counsel Paul Hemmersbaugh. The said proposal outlined Google's design for a fully autonomous car that would not require a human driver.
The said decision poses positive implications for Google and other car manufacturers as they race to develop self-driving cars for commercial consumption. Cars operating without a human pilot have been deemed unsafe for public operation until now.
The NHTSA ruling puts driverless-cars within the criteria required to pass the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards test, BBC noted.
While the NHTSA has accepted the concept of artificial intelligence as an alternative to the human driver, the decision does not come without limitations.
The federal agency noted that there are several regulations that cannot be dismissed particularly those with respect to the requirement of cars having safety equipment such as braking systems that can be activated only with human intervention.
Google, however, seeks an amendment to this rule. The tech company said installing a mechanism that would allow human passengers to steer, accelerate and hit the brake of the car "could be detrimental" to the passengers' safety as it would override the self-driving program's decisions.
The NHTSA finding is another step in the right direction in the development of self-driving vehicles. In January, the Department of Transportation announced its 10-year $4 billion plan to implement consistent laws and regulations on self-driving cars across all states.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said the initiative was created to "embrace innovations that can boost safety and improve efficiency" on roads.
However, Foxx reiterated that the burden lies with manufacturers of autonomous cars to ensure that such machinery is able to meet strict federal safety standards.
