New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has confirmed that the state will allow the testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads.
The state is currently accepting applications from companies who want to test their self-driving prototypes in a year-long pilot program.
In order to be granted approval to test vehicles, companies in New York must submit reports to the state, pay state police for supervising each test and have a $5 million insurance policy. All testing will be overseen by New York police. Additionally, the self-driving vehicles must adhere to a predesignated route approved by the state and steer clear of construction and school zones.
In a statement, Cuomo said “We are taking a careful yet balanced approach to incorporating autonomous vehicles on our roads to reduce dangerous driving habits, decrease the number of accidents and save lives on New York roadways.”
New York’s new openness to autonomous vehicles will see it join other states including California and Arizona that permit autonomous testing. In California however, many leading automakers and technology companies, including Tesla, Ford, Uber and Waymo, are asking the state to relax regulations even further to permit the testing of vehicles without steering wheels
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