California issues permits for testing of driverless cars on public roads
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Version 0 of 1. California has issued its first 29 permits this week to three companies to test self-driving cars on public roads, state officials said yesterday. Google was handed permits for testing 25 adapted Toyota Lexus SUVs, and two permits each went to Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen AG's Audi, said Bernard Soriano of the California department of motor vehicles. Soriano said Audi was the first to apply for the permits, followed by Daimler and then Google. All the permits were issued on Tuesday, the first day they were required by California. A few other carmakers and automotive suppliers are in the process of filing for the permits, said Soriano. Such car testing has been under way in California for several years without the permits, but the state's legislature has made permits a requirement for them to run on public roads. Among the requirements to get a permit is the ability of test drivers to be able to take command of an autonomous vehicle at any time. Mercedes-Benz engineers will "teach" the autonomous cars how to operate safely on US roads using different methods than are used in the testing and development of the cars in Germany, according to officials at Daimler and Mercedes-Benz. Audi said it was the first carmaker to obtain a licence for an autonomous car in Nevada, in 2012. |