California's proposed draft rules on Driverless Cars

California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) proposed draft rules that would require a licensed driver "to be present inside the vehicle and be capable of taking control in the event of a technology failure or other emergency."

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Has California Slammed the Brakes on Driverless Cars?

I was thinking more about "WHY?" the California DMV would do this?

The main reason I realized is not about technology. It is about liability. In other words it would be about Car Companies like Google not wanting the liability when something failed.

The 2nd reason would be: "More men on earth work as the drivers of cars and trucks than any other single profession worldwide".

In other words, "IF you allow completely driverless cars and trucks you end their jobs and begin to create world economic chaos for all those men.

And the third and last reason would be: "People are going to get killed by these things if there isn't someone there to correct the situation in an emergency."

So, the likely outcome of all this would be: "a Back up system to the driverless car constantly looking for problems arising so the emergency driver could be notified in time to take action."

Later: However, I think you are going to have the same problem here that airline pilots do with autopilots and automated landing sequences.

It's always better if a pilot or driver does the whole thing himself or herself, because when you automate while still flying or driving you increase the danger of crashes and other problems while flying or driving.

1. Autopilot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopilot

   Autopilots have evolved significantly over time, ... Popular Mechanics page 858 photo of Sperry Automatic Pilot and drawing of its basic functions in flight when set;

2. 'Automation Addiction': Are Pilots Forgetting How...

   abcnews.go.com/Technology/automation-addiction-pilots...

   The technology behind the auto-pilot on commercial aircrafts only ... that there were no mechanical problems with the plane, which would not have crashed had ...