California's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) held a meeting ON Wednesday to discuss its proposed rules for autonomous vehicles. The rules are based on the guidelines issued by the National Highway Transportation Safety Authority (NHTSA) last month.
However, some of the proposed laws have been widely criticized by various companies involved in the autonomous car projects. Various such companies including Google have reportedly expressed objection to some of these proposed rules.
One particular rule that has reportedly been slammed is related to the submission of a year's worth testing data. The companies claim that this requirement will unnecessarily delay the deployment of their cars by 12 months. The proposed rule requires companies to provide the data before seeking an operating permit. The companies objecting this rule include General Motors, Ford Motor, Google, and Honda Motor.
Another rule under fire is whether police should have access to any self-driving data within 24 hours without needing any warrant or subpoena.
The new set of rules also requires manufacturers to ensure that their technology is updated "at least annually." The automakers did not raise any objection to the rule.
The proposed laws seek to let local counties or cities set up their rules related to autonomous driving. According to Google's Director of Safety, Rod Medford, such a mechanism is "unworkable" as it may seriously impede the progress of vehicles traveling from one point to another.
A California DMV spokesperson said that the state is looking for suggestions and is open to modifying the rules. The state has not fixed any deadline to finalize the rules. California approved self-driving trials last month. Currently, there are 18 companies engaged in developing autonomous cars that have licenses for testing such cars in the state.