Driverless Cars Coming to California

California regulators are on the cusp of approving new rules that would clear the road for automakers to begin testing totally autonomous vehicles on the state's highways. 

Companies who want to test the driverless cars will have to let authorities know where they intend to operate the vehicles, and have a plan in place to communicate with law enforcement. 

The new laws require the cars to have a remote operator that can take over the car's controls at a moment's notice, but the new regulations are the first steps for autonomous cars to take over California streets. The remote operators would be required to keep an eye on multiple cars and take over its controls if and when needed. 

Several large car companies are already building the infrastructure needed for their driverless cars. Nissan recently built a new monitoring center for its autonomous taxis, tests for which begin in March in Tokyo. 

The cars could be on the roads in California as soon as April. According to the DMV's website, fifty companies have signed up to test their cars in California. 


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