Autonomous vehicles could hit the streets of New York as early as next year.
Although the state is unlikely to become as open to self-driving vehicles as California or Arizona in the near future, lawmakers recently approved legislation as part of the annual budget which will enable companies to test driverless cars on New York’s roads in 2018.
The main reason why companies developing self-driving tech haven’t been able to deploy it in New York is because of a 45-year-old law that requires motorists to have at least one hand on the steering wheel at all times. However, the changes have temporarily paused this legislation.
The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association (GNYADA) which operates the New York Auto Show, says it has been working closely with the Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo to permit autonomous vehicles to test in the state.
“Our involvement in the issue really began as we started to plan our Empire State of Mobility Conference for this year’s New York Auto Show and we realized that we would not be able to have any real-time demonstrations of autonomous vehicles for government officials and the media. It just didn’t make sense. The whole world looks to New York City as a place where trends begin and news is made, yet there was no provision for this important game-changing technology to be tested in the most populous and diverse city in the nation,” GNYADA president Mark Schienberg said.
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