DC Council to hold hearing on driverless cars

Published October 23, 2012 7:16am ET



WASHINGTON (AP) — The D.C. Council is holding a hearing on a bill that would allow self-driving cars on the streets of the nation’s capital.

Three states — Nevada, Florida and California — have already authorized driverless cars on their streets. Google is developing a fleet of the so-called “autonomous vehicles,” and the company has been lobbying states to legalize them. Google co-founder Sergey Brin has said he expects self-driving cars to be commercially available within a decade. Several auto manufacturers are also developing them.

The District of Columbia bill was introduced by Councilmember Mary Cheh, a Ward 3 Democrat who took a ride in one of Google’s vehicles earlier this year. Representatives from Volvo and Daimler are among those scheduled to testify at Tuesday’s hearing.