California is issuing permits to test out self-driving cars

When one talks about a self driving vehicle these days, it does not seem to elicit much excitement, as it sounds as though everyone has already started to dip their respective fingers into a potentially lucrative “cookie jar”, so to speak. Having said that, here we are with the great state of California issuing permits to those in the industry who would want to test out self-driving cars. In other words, manufacturers are required to obtain a special kind of testing permit as well as show compliance with a range of safety and insurance requirements.

Testing of self-driving cars has been going on in a number of states for a while, but government regulations are now starting to catch up to the nascent industry. California on Tuesday finally enacted a measure requiring manufacturers to get a special testing permit and show compliance with a number of safety and insurance requirements. “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,” said the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles director, Jean Shiomoto, in a press release. California isn’t the first state to regulate autonomous vehicles or require permits, but it’s by far the largest — and is, of course, home to companies like Google that are deeply invested in the technology. Audi, however, was the first company to receive a California permit. “Audi is a driving force behind the research taking automated driving from science fiction to pre-production readiness,” Audi of America President Scott Keogh said in a statement. Obtaining the first permit “shows that we intend to remain the leader in this vital technology frontier,” he said.