Carnegie Mellon University, which has been testing autonomous vehicle technology in Pittsburgh since the 1980s, will comply with the guidelines, said Raj Rajkumar, head of CMU’s self-driving car research. Rajkumar said the guidelines achieve goals of both ensuring public safety and enabling Pennsylvania to remain a leader in autonomous vehicle testing.

The guidelines — PennDOT can’t regulate the testing of self-driving cars without authorization from the state Legislature — take effect Aug. 1. Richards expects all companies testing in Pennsylvania to comply.

“While we await legislative action on our request for permanent authorization, our new guidance underscores our expectation that companies are taking every possible step to prepare their vehicles and personnel for on-the-road testing,” Richards said in a statement released this week.
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