In the U.S., the state of Nevada has already approved a bill legalizing autonomous vehicles, now it looks like California is following suit. In a rare occasion, the State Senate voted unanimously in favour of a bill that would establish guidelines and oversight on self-driving vehicles.
Supporters of the bill stated that “autonomous vehicles have the potential to significantly reduce traffic fatalities and injuries,” California State Senator Alex Padilla adding that, “thousands of Californians die in auto accidents each year. The vast majority of these collisions are due to human error. Through the use of computers and other systems an autonomous vehicle can analyze the driving environment more quickly and accurately and can operate the vehicle more safely.”
Despite bills being passed by both states, however, the driverless cars provision won’t become a reality until federal guidelines concerning autonomous vehicles have been established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Given the complexity and controversy regarding the subject, this could take at least several years. It will also be interesting to see if Canada takes similar steps to approve the concept of self-driving vehicles.
