Self Driving Cars: Google, Ford, Uber and 2 others launch coalition

Alphabet Inc.'s Google unit, Ford Motor Co., the ride-sharing service Uber and two other companies said in a statement, "it will work with lawmakers, regulators and the public to realize the safety and societal benefits of self-driving vehicles."

David Strickland, the former top official of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), said in an interview on Tuesday, April 26, emphasizing on safety, "What people are looking for is clear rules of the road of what needs to be done for (fully autonomous) vehicles to be on the road. Nobody wants to take a shortcut on this."

Strickland, who has advised Google on self-driving car issues, said the group is "a full policy and messaging campaign and movement" and not just about lobbying lawmakers or regulators.

The IBT reports, NHTSA says about 94 percent of all traffic crashes are caused by human error. In 2014 there were 32,675 fatalities and 2.3 million injured in 6.1 million crashes on U.S. roads. On Wednesday, NHTSA is holding the second of two public forums on its self-driving car guidelines that will feature comments from tech companies and automakers at Stanford University.

Ford said in a statement the group will "work together to advocate for policy solutions that will support the deployment of fully autonomous vehicles."

NHTSA hopes to release its guidance to states, policymakers and companies on self-driving vehicles in July. In February, NHTSA said the artificial intelligence system piloting a self-driving Google car could be considered the driver under federal law, a major step toward winning approval for autonomous vehicles.

The five companies, which all are working on self-driving cars, say one of the group's first tasks is to "work with civic organizations, municipalities and businesses to bring the vision of self-driving vehicles to America's roads and highways."