Google car's AI brain counts as a driver, feds say

The regulator said: "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." Google's self-driving car just got a boost from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. SAN FRANCISCO - Google's pioneering effort to develop a self-driving vehicle devoid of steering wheel and pedals just got a boost from the feds. In a Feb. 4 letter to Google Car project director Chris Urmson that was first reported by Reuters, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration noted it "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," adding that "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." Google's seven-year-old program has evolved from a fleet of radar- and laser-packed Lexus SUVs to now include a small two-passenger vehicle whose ultimate design will not allow passengers to drive the car.