California to Soften Autonomous Car Regulations Automobile Magazine

California released a proposal this week amending some of its strict regulations for autonomous vehicles. If all goes as planned, the state will allow self-driving vehicles to operate without a human driver behind the wheel starting next year. The proposal eliminates some of the hoops automakers have to jump through to test self-driving cars on public roads, reports the Los Angeles Times. Testers no longer need to obtain permission from each locality their cars drive through, and instead only need to inform each location of their plans. And rather than creating an emergency plan with each group of law enforcement officials, companies would only need to file a communications plan going forward.