Apple, Tesla Petition California To Change Proposed Self-Driving Car Test Rules

Apple Inc asked California to toughen up its proposed self-driving car testing policy; this could result in more public data that will help the company catch up to competitors in the self-driving space by giving it a better understanding into their strengths and weaknesses.

Waymo, the self-driving car unit of Google parent company Alphabet Inc, Ford Motor Co, Uber Technologies Inc, Toyota Motor Corp, Tesla Motors Inc and others also filed comments recommending changes.

California said it would evaluate the comments before determining whether to initiate changes to the policy that proposes to allow companies to test vehicles without standard steering wheels and controls or human backup drivers.

Currently, California's policy expects companies to state how many times the self-driving system was deactivated and control returned to people because of a system failure or a situation tied to traffic, weather or road conditions that required human interference for safety reasons.

However, Apple needs those rules to extend to humans stepping in to stop even minor traffic infringements. Apple contests the reporting rules as written too much room for car makers and "caused public confusion and misunderstanding," wrote Steve Kenner, Apple's director of product integrity.

The company also urged regulators to revisit language around the meaning of an autonomous vehicle to explain that permits are needed in advanced systems even when a safety driver is present.

Tesla said California should not prevent testing of autonomous vehicles that are 4,535 kg or more, which Apple also requested. Tesla said such a move might "stifle innovation," and stop a company from testing a heavy autonomous vehicle that could be utilised to haul parts on private property compared to public roads, driving developers in this area out of the state.