Waymo wants to bring self-driving rideshare vehicles to New York City
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Driver-less taxis could be another step closer to coming to the streets of New York City.
Waymo, an autonomous driving company, said it will begin testing next month -- but with human drivers behind the wheel at first -- while the city reviews their permit application.
If the permit is granted, it would be the city's first testing deployment of autonomous vehicles.
New York State law currently does not allow for operating a vehicle without a human behind the wheel.
The company said it is lobbying to change that state law.
The fully autonomous vehicles are already in use in cities like San Francisco and Austin.
Waymo currently provides over 250,000 fully autonomous paid trips each week across multiple major U.S. cities.
The company says according to its data, its technology is involved in 78% fewer injury-causing collisions, including 93% fewer that involve pedestrians, and 81% fewer that involve cyclists.
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