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Self-Driving Cars Are Facing Roadblocks In The City Of New York

By Mohender | Update Date: Nov 01, 2016 06:51 AM EDT

The tech companies are unable to test the self-driving cars on the city streets. This is happening because of red-tape and antiquated legislation in New York.

In a recent council hearing experts cited the legislation of 1971 which requires the drivers to keep one hand on the steering wheel when the car is in motion.  In 1971 no one thought of the self-driving cars.

The street system of New York is very complex. If the city does not properly regulate the autonomous vehicles than there shall be the creation of more congestion and gridlock traffic.

 The owners of ghost vehicles just allow their autonomous vehicles wander in the city so as to avoid parking. This leads to more traffic and the revenue concern. The city earns millions of dollars every year through parking tickets.

These vehicles do not use a steering wheel and that is the reason they are in violation of federal safety standards.

This problem is not isolated to New York alone. In fact, this is a problem indicative of a country which is far behind of its technology industry.

Until the present day, the United States of America is not having any cohesive framework for autonomous vehicles on a nationwide scale.

It is federalism that plays a role in this. It becomes difficult to apply rules to all the 50 states as most of the states have their own say in their regulatory matters.

Experts opine that this is going to be a fight regarding jobs as most of the drivers are rendered jobless because of the self-driving cars. The taxi drivers are also worried because of the autonomous vehicles as these vehicles can affect their jobs.

Apart from this, there is a need for a better infrastructure for New York City and America as a whole to adjust to the burden of self-driving cars.

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