Fully driverless car tests in California could start in April
Automakers testing their self-driving cars on California roads might be able to go fully autonomous as soon as April, according to the state's DMV. Instead of putting someone behind the wheel to take over in certain circumstances, such as when the self-driving system isn't working as well as it should, the companies will be required to link their cars to remote operators. Those remote drivers' job is to keep an eye on multiple cars and to take over their controls if and when needed. The automakers are allowed to hire third-party companies to handle remote operation. Some of them, though, including Waymo and Nissan, have already developed their own remote-driving technologies -- Nissan even built a monitoring center for its driverless taxi's tests, which will begin in March and take place in Tokyo. Even if they pass on developing their own remote-driving technology, the companies will still have to comply with quite a lengthy list of requirements to be able to ge...