Car safety is a serious business. That’s why engineers with Google and other companies are working on developing self-driving technology that will make roads much safer once the features are widely available. Unfortunately for drivers right now, concerns associated with safety regarding autonomous technology may end up postponing the release of rules regarding driverless cars. This delay will consequently push the release of self-driving cars, thus leaving drivers without access to the potentially life-saving technology.

According to the Department of Motor Vehicles, consumers will have to wait a bit longer for the sales of driverless cars begin. The state’s DMV is behind on adopting new rules regarding the autonomous vehicle technology, as well as other innovative car features, simply because the agency does not believe the technology is entirely safe.

According to officials, regulators must first be entirely sure that all autonomous cars will be obeying traffic laws at all times. Doubts concerning returning the control to the driver in case of an emergency are also concerning officials, making them nervous about a soon release of self-driving cars.

California Companies Scrambling to Further Tests

Many companies have used California roads to test the self-driving technology they are developing. While the DMV worries about the car’s computer freezing or functioning incorrectly, manufacturers working on the features are given more clues as to what they should work on to ensure officials are OK with the release of the technology.

Currently, the California DMV has three options regarding driverless technology. The agency could either follow the federal rules that say autonomous car manufacturers must self-certify for safety or allow independent organizations to test the autonomous features on its own, which is what Europe has done. The state could also take on the job of testing the technology itself, which some critics believe to be the least effective way of getting this technology ahead.

According to federal agencies, there are no plans to have new standards regarding driverless cars written in the works, but the federal government is also skeptical about states writing their own. This could turn out difficult once agencies begin to ask more questions regarding the feasibility of the self-driving car technology becoming a real thing for drivers across the country.

While Google has been working tirelessly to make sure that California state laws allow for the testing of self-driving technology, this debate pushed by the DMV could make things harder for the company in the near future.

You may read more about this struggle regarding car autonomous and safety concerns by following this link.