"These new robo-cars won’t have to meet existing safety standards for manned automobiles, but manufacturers will have to petition the National Highway Safety and Transportation Bureau, a federal agency tasked with reducing vehicle-related crashes, for an exemption, explained Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor and self-driving car expert at Stanford University. That means that automakers will need to make a clear case that their self-driving technology is safe enough to drive alongside cars with humans at the wheel."
"Ryan Calo, a law professor who specializes in technology policy at University of Washington, is concerned about how this legislation could play out. He thinks that regulatory agencies don’t necessarily have the expertise in robotics and artificial intelligence to determine whether an automaker’s self-driving car exemption will not be dangerous when the rubber hits the road. “This is an area where it’s especially important to make sure the technology is safe before it gets deployed,” says Calo."