Autonomous cars received a further boost this week after the US state of California issued its first 29 permits to three companies to test self-driving cars on public roads.
Google received permits for testing 25 adapted Lexus SUVs and two permits each went to Mercedes-Benz and Audi, Bernard Soriano of the California Department of Motor Vehicles, told Reuters.
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A few other automakers and first-tier automotive suppliers are in the process of filing for the permits, Soriano told the news agency.
Autonomous car testing has been under way in California for several years without the permits, but the state’s legislature has made permits a requirement for them to run on public roads.
Among the California requirements to get a permit is the ability of test drivers to be able to take command of an autonomous vehicle at any time, reportedly forcing Google to add a steering wheel to its Lexus test cars.
Mercedes-Benz engineers will “teach” the autonomous cars how to operate safely on US roads using different methods than are used in the testing and development of the cars in Germany, Daimler and Mercedes-Benz officials said.
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