Self-driving cars are 'absolutely not' ready for widespread use, claims expert

Self-driving cars are'absolutely not' ready for widespread deployment despite a rush to put them on the road, a robotics expert has told Congress. The cars aren't yet able to handle bad weather, including standing water, drizzling rain, sudden downpours and snow, Missy Cummings, director of Duke University's robotics program, told the Senate commerce committee. And they certainly aren't equipped to follow the directions of a police officer, she said. The head of Alphabet's Google self-driving car programme will urge the U.S. Congress on Tuesday to grant new authority to speed the introduction of self-driving cars on American roads. In January, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it may waive some vehicle safety rules to allow more driverless cars to operate on U.S. roads as part of a broader effort to speed up development of self-driving vehicles. NHTSA said Friday in a report there are significant legal hurdles to allowing fully autonomous vehicles without steering wheels.