Publication: Fortune
Waymo, the self-driving technology development firm owned by parent company Alphabet, now has the first permit in the state of California to test-drive its autonomous vehicles on public roads without a test driver present in the car, according to a company blog post.
Waymo and other companies, including Uber, have been testing self-driving cars on public streets for a while now. The difference is that those cars have a human or two sitting in them, in case anything goes sideways in terms of public safety.
The permit news comes at an odd juncture, as competing companies continue to vie for the ability to test self-driving cars on public streets. But there have been some recent measures to curb such advances in the Golden State. Earlier this year, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 87, which was introduced by California Assemblymember Phil Ting and gives law enforcement the authority to impound unpermitted autonomous vehicles (AVs), including those without drivers present in the cars.
In California, the DMV has the right to interpret the law as it sees fit. Fortune has submitted a request to the state DMV through Governor Brown’s office in order to better understand the legality of Waymo’s permit.