Google, Ford and Uber along with Volvo and Lyft have formed a coalition to help speed up the introduction of self-driving cars to the market by pushing for federal action. According to a report by Reuters, the coalition is called the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets and the group said in a statement that it will “work with lawmakers, regulators and the public to realize the safety and societal benefits of self-driving vehicles.”
The coalition also said that David Strickland, the former top official of the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will be its counsel and spokesperson. He said in a statement, “The best path for this innovation is to have one clear set of federal standards and the coalition will work with policymakers to find the right solutions that will facilitate the deployment of self-driving vehicles.” On April 27, the NHTSA is holding its second public forum on its guidelines for self driving cars, during which it will feature comments from technology companies and car manufacturers. It hopes to release its guidelines in July.
In February, the NHTSA had said that the artificial intelligence system piloting a self-driving car could be considered as the driver under federal law. This was a major step towards getting an approval for autonomous vehicles. While Google’s attempts at self-driving cars is well known, Volvo is also planning to introduce self-driving cars on roads in China. The test will be conducted in places where there will be limited number of other vehicles such as expressways and highways.