Google, Carmakers Discuss Robotic Autos With U.S. Regulators

Google, Carmakers Discuss Robotic Autos With U.S. Regulators

Google Inc. (GOOG) and automakers are having “extensive discussions” with U.S. safety regulators about self-driving cars such as the one the search-engine leader has developed, the top U.S. auto regulator said.

“The development of automated vehicles is a worthy goal,” National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland said today at an automated-vehicles forum in Washingtonsponsored by Volvo Cars.

Cars that drive themselves may help cut the approximately 33,000 annual U.S. highway deaths while requiring changes in how vehicle safety is regulated, Strickland said.

Google, which developed its autonomous car in secret, is testing it on U.S. roads. CaliforniaGovernor Jerry Brown last month signed a law allowing trials of self-driving cars on the state’s highways, as long as there’s a human in the driver’s seat to take over if needed.

NHTSA, which evaluates vehicles for safety in crash tests and sets standards for parts from headlights to windshield wipers, will have to find a way to evaluate the software or other systems that control an autonomous vehicle, said Ron Medford, the agency’s deputy administrator.

Google, as a technology company getting attention for its foray into the automotive sector, “has to be right the first time” on autonomous vehicles, said Chris Urmson, the company’s technical leader on the project.

“We recognize the responsibility that comes with that,” he said. “It’s important that we proceed as quickly as possible but with all the appropriate caution and safety consciousness.”