Google's self-driving car program just took a big hit in the state of California.
On Wednesday, the California Department of Motor Vehicles finally proposed rules for the use of self-driving cars by the public.
While one might assume this would help Google's autonomous car initiative, the new rules actually set the company back quite a bit.
For starters, the DMV's preliminary rules prohibit autonomous vehicles that don't have a steering wheel or a brake pedal — Google's cars have neither steering wheels nor pedals.
The rules also require that a human driver still be present. The driver must have a normal driver's license, as well as special certification for operating a driverless car.
What's more, companies like Google would not be able to sell their driverless vehicles to the public; rather, consumers would only be able to lease vehicles from the company.
Under the new rules, manufacturers like Google must certify their autonomous vehicles to comply with specific safety and performance requirements and have their cars tested by a third-party organization in order to receive a permit to operate on the road. Once an autonomous car is in operation, the company must sumbit a monthly report on the vehicle's performance.
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The California DMV said more rules are to come and cited safety as its primary reason for putting in place tight controls for public use.
But Google, who is just one of the companies working on driverless cars in California, argues that safety is the number one reason the public needs driverless cars.
“Safety is our highest priority and primary motivator as we do this,” said Courtney Hohne, a Google spokeswoman, in a statement to the New York Times. “We’re gravely disappointed that California is already writing a ceiling on the potential for fully self-driving cars to help all of us who live here.”
Google's frustration with the agency has been growing for some time.
At a public presentation in September, Sarah Hunter, a public policy director at Google X, was asked when self-driving cars would go mainstream, to which she replied “Whenever the DMV pass their operational regulations.”
The DMV was supposed to have rules in place for self-driving cars for public use almost a year ago, but was delayed because of the complicated nature of the technology. Now, the agency's rules are coming to fruition, but the tech giant may not stick around to keep testing in California.
Google has already begun testing its vehicles on public roads in Texas. And given that the company is not pleased with where state regulators are heading in governing the technology, it wouldn't be surprising if Google looked to grow its self-driving car business in other states where laws are more liberal or non-existant.
On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.
