Waymo gets permit to test driverless cars in California

Waymo, the self-driving car unit of Alphabet Inc., has received a permit to test their autonomous cars on public streets without a driver. The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has granted the tech company a permit to test cars in California within defined limits.

The cars will be tested in parts of Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, and Palo Alto. Waymo will be allowed to test cars during day and night, on city, rural and highway roads with speeds up to 105 km/h. The vehicles will be capable of handling fog and light rain situations. Initially, only a small area will be used for testing which is expected to expand once sufficient experience and confidence are gained.

At first, only Waymo staff will sit in the vehicles and public will eventually be allowed to get rides under the early rider program. All Waymo vehicles are tested before they get on the roads. They have accumulated a total of around 10 million miles of testing on public roads and around 7 billion simulated miles. In November 2017, the company started on-road trials in Phoenix, Arizona.