Quietly, tentatively, companies that are developing fully driverless cars have begun taking the necessary steps to put their vehicles on California roads.
And one of those applying for the permit it needs to start testing such cars on public streets is Waymo, the self-driving car technology company owned by Google parent Alphabet.
Waymo confirmed Friday that it has applied with the California Department of Motor Vehicles for the permits it needs to begin testing fully driverless cars on public streets. A source who has seen Waymo’s permit application says Waymo intends on testing its driverless vehicles near its headquarters in Mountain View before expanding such tests around parts of the Bay Area. If its permit is approved, Waymo will be able to test driverless cars on streets, rural roads and highways with posted speed limits of up to 65 miles per hour.
Companies could begin applying with the state Department of Motor Vehicles for testing and deploying driverless cars on April 2. However, by that date, none of the approximately 50 companies working on driverless cars technology had filed the necessary permit work with the DMV.
Waymo isn’t alone when it comes to applying for driverless car operating permits. Jessica Gonzalez, a DMV spokeswoman, said Friday that the department has so far received two applications this week.
“The California DMV received a second application for driverless testing today,” Gonzalez said. “The first company’s application was not complete. They received a letter yesterday explaining the areas that still needed to be completed before we can begin reviewing the application.”
Gonzalez said the DMV wouldn’t divulge the names of any of the companies that apply for driverless car permits until the department issues a permit. And the DMV won’t just be rubber-stamping permit when people show up with the applications.
“We don’t have a timeline for how long the approval process will take,” Gonzalez said.
Self-driving cars have come under intense scrutiny since an Uber self-driving car that included a human vehicle assistant in the car’s passenger seat struck and killed a female pedestrian in Tempe, Ariz. last month. Uber suspended testing of its self-driving cars on public road across North America following that accident.
