California senator arrives in a driverless car to introduce state bill for self-driving car legislation

California State Senator Alex Padilla arrived at a press conference at the State capitol today in a Google Inc.-modified Toyota Prius that drives itself. Said Padilla, "

"It was smooth.  It probably drove better than we would have driven."

CA Senator Alex Padilla

"It never gets distracted, it never gets drunk. It's a much better driver than I am," added Anthony Levandowski, Google product manager, said as he stood by the test vehicle.

Padilla wants the state to be ready and is a believer."Autonomous vehicles have the potential to significantly reduce traffic fatalities and improve safety on our roads and highways," Padilla said.

The form of transportation was selected to underscore the announcement of new legislation by Senator Padilla, written with Google's input.
The legislation directs the California Highway Patrol to develop guidelines for the safe future operation of autonomous vehicles within the state.  Nevada has already passed autonomous vehicle legislation, that would allow registration road testing of self-driving vehicles within the state, and lawmakers in Arizona, Oklahoma, Florida, and Hawaii have introduced similar legislation. Although most states don't specifically prohibit or permit autonomous vehicles, this very silence can fail to create the sort of regulatory structure and certainty that can encourage companies to have a clearer path forward to proceed with new innovations.

"Look, Ma, no hands!" Mahan, who is
95% blind "drives" a self-driving car

Bloomberg reports, " The bill reflects Mountain View, California-based Google's latest push to show policymakers that while the cars of the future aren't ready for public use yet, it's time for laws to accommodate them." 

"It is about creating the right kind of framework for the next step, should we move beyond the testing phase," Nancarrow said.

Google's autonomous cars have driven themselves 200,000 miles in California -- across the Golden Gate Bridge, along the Pacific Coast Highway and on Hollywood Boulevard, according to the company. They have reported one accident, which occurred while under human operation. Although Google has been working on the technology for over ten years, they don't have a projected mass production date or price range at this point.