NHTSA: Autonomous cars could eventually be considered drivers

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is thinking about updating the definition of a driver in its standards to recognize self-driving vehicle computer systems as drivers, according to a reply the agency wrote to a Google proposal. “If no human occupant of the vehicle can actually drive the vehicle, it is more reasonable to identify the driver as whatever (as opposed to whoever) is doing the driving,” wrote NHTSA’s Paul Hemmersbaugh.