With the passing of Assembly Bill 511 this month, the state of Nevada becomes the first state to authorize the operation of driverless cars on state highways. The bill is the result of heavy lobbying by Google. It mandates the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue regulations for the testing, insurance and operation of driverless cars. In addition the DMV needs to establis a driver’s license endorsement for the operation of autonomous vehicles which must ‘recognize the fact that a person is not required to actively drive an autonomous vehicle.
In a separate Senate Bill 140 an exemption was added to ensure that occupants of an autonomous vehicle may cell phones and mobile devices while the car is in autonomous driving mode.

This is a big step towards the driverless future!