U.S. safety regulators: Google's self-driving systems qualify as drivers

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has ruled that Google's self-driving systems legally qualify as a driver under federal law.

The NHTSA stated in a letter to Google on Feb. 4 that it will "interpret 'driver' in the context of Google's described motor vehicle design as referring to the [self-driving system], and not to any of the vehicle occupants."

The decision comes after Google sent a letter to regulators on Nov. 12 that proposed its self-driving car has "no need for a human driver."

Safety regulators opined: "We agree with Google its [self-driving car] will not have a 'driver' in the traditional sense that vehicles have had drivers during the last more than one hundred years." Read more...