Google Self-Driving AI Cars Can Be Considered Drivers, Says US Regulators

Transportation safety regulators in the United States has just declared that the automated artificial intelligence system controlling the driverless Google car is a driver- a recent legal breakthrough in federal regulations which could prove pivotal in making self-driving vehicles a main feature of American roads in the near future.

In a letter sent to Google from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the agency appears to have signaled a change in federal safety rules that previously hindered the road testing for self-driving cars.

"NHTSA 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. 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," NHTSA's lettered response to Google's proposed car design as quoted by the Reuters.

Furthermore, the regulatory agency has just recognized the "Self-Driving System" as the driver behind the wheels.

"If no human occupant of the vehicle can actually drive the vehicle, it is more reasonable to identify the driver as whatever (as opposed to whoever) is doing the driving. In this instance, an item of motor vehicle equipment, the Self-Driving System, is ACTUALLY driving the vehicle," NHSTA's letter goes as quoted in a report by BBC News.

In a related development, Google's holding company, Alphabet Inc., has recently announced a series of job listings related to the tech giant's driverless car project which it plans to establish into a standalone business line within its diverse business portfolio according to a report by The Guardian.