California will allow testing on public roads of self-driving vehicles without human backup drivers by the end of the year.
The state's Department of Motor Vehicles is seeking public comment on proposed regulations for driverless testing and public use of autonomous vehicles that will no longer be required to have conventional manual controls such as steering wheels and pedals.
Current regulations require such vehicles to have those controls, as well as a backup driver.
The state has licensed 27 companies to test driverless vehicles on public roads, including vehicle manufacturers from BMW to Tesla Inc; suppliers such as Delphi Automotive Plc and Nvidia; technology companies such as Alphabet Inc's Waymo and China's Baidu Inc; and a long list of self-driving startups such as Zoox, Drive.ai, AutoX and PlusAI. Also licensed are China-funded electric vehicle startups NextEV and Faraday Future.
Earlier this week, California granted a testing permit to ride services firm Uber Technologies after a legal standoff last December.
The proposed regulations enable manufacturers to certify that their driverless test vehicles can operate without conventional controls. The cars must meet federal safety standards or have an exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DMV Deputy Director Brian Soublet said in a media briefing on Friday.
Driverless vehicles must also have a remote operator who is capable of monitoring the vehicle's operation and communicating with any passengers.
The proposed regulations have a 45-day public comment period that ends April 24. That will be followed by a public hearing. During Friday's conference call, the California DMV said the rules should be completed by the end of the year.