Politics & Government

The 'Jetsons' Future is Finally Here—Are You Ready?

Nope, not the jetpacks or the moving sidewalks. Gov. Jerry Brown drove in a driverless car yesterday and signed legislation about the futuristic vehicles.

Here's the first good news: No more speeding tickets. But where will all those CHP officers find jobs?

Are you ready for self-driving cars? The state is starting the process to have them on the roads.

Tuesday Gov. Jerry Brown drove in a driverless car in Mountain View along with Google founder Sergey Brin and then signed a bill into law requiring the DMV to come up with standards for the cars.

Find out what's happening in Santa Cruzwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Self-driving cars don't run red lights!" said Brin, according to coverage of the private event by NBC Bay Area.

The bill, which passed in August, orders the DMV to come up with standards for autopilot cars by Jan. 1, 2015, according to the Mercury News. There are many questions to be answered about insurance, safety and responsibility in case of accidents for the laser and camera-guided cars.

Find out what's happening in Santa Cruzwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Brown signed the bill at Google headquarters.

Do you think we will really be driving in them three years from now? Will they be safer than manually-driven vehicles? Will driving your own car go the way of the typewriter? What will you do in your car? Read? Shave? Watch movies? Sleep? 

Should you be allowed to do those things even if the autopilot is driving? 

So many questions, so little time. Ford, BMW and Audi are said to be working on the cars and Brown was passengered in an autopilot Prius.


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