Nevada OKs Robot Cars

New rules allow companies to begin testing
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 17, 2012 1:19 PM CST
Nevada OKs Robot Cars
A driverless car which from the outside looks like a regular Volkswagen Passat with a camera on top, is seen being put through its paces at Berlin's disused Tempelhof airport, October 13, 2010.   (Getty Images)

Nevada drivers might be sharing the road with robots someday. The state's Department of Motor Vehicles has approved regulations allowing self-driving cars to hit the street, PC Mag reports. The rules govern test vehicles—like the one Google has already built—and will eventually apply to those released to consumers. You'll be able to identify them by their license plates, which will be red for test models and green for the final product.

"Nevada is the first state to embrace what is surely the future of automobiles," the DMV's director says in a statement. Companies testing cars must put up a $1 million to $3 million bond, and equip their cars with special data collectors, the AP reports. The test cars must also have two people inside in case something goes wrong, but when a car is finally fully approved, owners will be allowed to operate it "without being physically present." (More Nevada stories.)

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