The race is on for the mass rollout of self- driving, autonomous vehicles (AVs). Google (now Waymo) and Nissan hope to get there by 2020. Ford and Volvo hope to have a fully autonomous vehicle on the road by 2021. You have probably begun to take more than a passing glimpse at the seemingly daily news articles about AV technology. The reality is that the technology is here (subject only to being fine-tuned), but the current federal and state regulatory schemes (or lack of them) are causing confusion and delays. In other words, our existing automobile laws are becoming more outdated day-by-day as AV technology continues to advance, and these outdated laws are creating barriers to the development, testing, and deployment of AVs.
