aerobd.news : Waymo has been given the green light to begin testing its self-driving vehicles, without the need of a test driver in the driver’s seat, on public roads in California. The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) granted the first permit in the US state to begin autonomous trials of vehicles that do not require a test driver present in the front, however testing is still subject to carefully defined limits.

Thanks to new DMV regulations that took effect in April 2018, Waymo will have a permit to go fully driverless for testing day and night on city streets, rural roads and highways with speed limits of up to 65mph. The company has already been conducting such trials in the state of Arizona. Areas that Waymo will be testing include Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, and Palo Alto.

This breakthrough, along with the recent news that the self-driving company has just driven over 10 million miles in its autonomous cars across the USA, will enable the next phase toward fully driverless vehicles and opens up the doors for rival companies such as Uber and Lyft to do the same.

source : Automotive Testing Technology International