California and especially Los Angeles are known for their car cultures. So it seems logical that a number of companies are looking to test their self-driving cars in the state. Google (NASDAQ GOOG) is one of the few companies who have received a permit for the self driving cars.
The California DMV has awarded a number of companies permits to legally drive their cars that drive themselves. Audi was the first company to apply for the permits so it makes sense that they were also the first to receive them though many who live in California would certainly argue that there exists very little logic when dealing with the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
29 permits were issued on Tuesday according to state officials. Two went to Volkswagen AG’s Audi AG as well as two to Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz, while Google Inc (NASDAQ GOOG) and its 25 Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE TM) Lexus SUVs received one permit for each. Audi was the first automaker to obtain a license for an autonomous car in Nevada, in 2012.
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“Audi is a driving force behind the research taking automated driving from science fiction to pre-production readiness,” Scott Keogh, president of Audi of America, said in a statement. “Obtaining the first permit issued by the state of California shows that we intend to remain the leader in this vital technology frontier.”
While Google and others have been testing self-driving cars in California for some time, the state finally drew up regulations in the the last few years and the law that was passed in 2012 took effect on Tuesday.
“Autonomous vehicles are the future of transportation,” said DMV Director Jean Shiomoto. “Testing on public roads is one step to developing this technology, and the DMV is excited in facilitating the advancement of autonomous vehicles in California.”
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The regulations that went into effect on Tuesday require that the vehicles are registered and that they are bonded for $5 million each. Additionally, they all need a trained driver behind the wheel that can take over at any time and companies are required to report any accidents immediately to the DMV.
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