Boost for Google cars as US regulator rules robots may drive

A significant barrier to Google’s plan to put driverless cars on the roads without steering wheels or human-operated brakes has been removed, after a US transport regulator indicated that a robot could meet the legal definition of a driver.

In a letter to Chris Urmson, director of Google's self-driving car project, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it agreed with the company's proposed interpretations of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

Google maintains that cars will be safer when humans have no control or ability to intervene in driving at all.

Last year, the idea faced a problem when the California Department of Motor Vehicles said any autonomous cars being tested on the state's roads must have a steering wheel and pedals. Google has argued against that, and received a boost last month when US secretary of transportation, Anthony Foxx, said he would put forward new rules for "fully autonomous vehicles" in the coming months.

The NHTSA said it would consider drawing up new rules to change the definition of “driver” – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016