http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/us/driverless-cars-california.html 2016-10-02 04:15:33 Amended California Rules Would Allow Driverless Cars Redrafted regulations for cars, including those without steering wheels or pedals, will be the subject of a public hearing on Oct. 19 in Sacramento. === California regulators have changed course and opened a pathway for the public to get self-driving cars that have no steering wheels or pedals. It will not happen immediately — automakers and tech companies are still testing prototypes. But the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles said in a revision of draft regulations released late Friday that the most advanced self-driving cars would no longer be required to have a licensed driver if federal officials deemed them safe enough. The redrafted regulations will be the subject of a public hearing on Oct. 19 in Sacramento. The department has been wrestling for several years with how to oversee the emerging technology. In December, the agency released an initial draft of regulations for self-driving cars, which required the presence of a licensed driver in any self-driving vehicle. The industry reacted with great disappointment, as the ultimate vision of many companies is a car that has no wheel or pedals. The department’s In incorporating the federal approach, California dropped a proposal that a third-party company would certify the safety of self-driving cars. The draft regulations released on Friday include several other new provisions. Among them is wording that would prohibit the advertising of vehicles with lower levels of automation — like Tesla Motors’ Autopilot, which on divided highways can keep a car’s lane and brake and accelerate on the understanding that a person is paying attention all of the time — as “autonomous” or “self-driving.” The company that stands to gain the most from the state’s embrace of cars without a wheel or pedals is Alphabet, where the Google self-driving car project envisions cars that allow no human control other than a start and emergency stop button. A spokesman for the Google self-driving car project did not comment Friday on the changes to the proposed regulations.