Less than a decade ago, driverless cars were little more than a sci-fi pipe dream. As the work of automakers around the world continues, however, these automated driving machines are already beginning to hit the roads. Google’s automated cars, for example, have already accumulated 1.3 million miles of driving. Customer experience begins with an exceptional product, and companies offering the best driverless cars will reap the rewards of unmatched brand loyalty.
This extreme shift in the customer experience will certainly take some getting used to, however, both for drivers and for lawmakers seeking to regulate a constantly evolving landscape.
Alongside other driverless innovators like Tesla and GM, Google is putting pressure on U.S. lawmakers to quickly draft and approve legislation regarding how these vehicles 
will be regulated. In the interest of working with automakers and reaching productive agreements, a proposal has been put forth by the Obama administration to invest almost $4 billion in programs to regulate and improve the safety of driverless cars.
As it stands, state officials are in position to put forth and enforce policies related to autonomous vehicles. This presents a challenge for automakers, which must navigate a different set of regulations for each state in which they test the cars.
Further, these regulations often prohibit the use of some features in certain states, creating a need for the test cars to automatically shut off specific functions when crossing state lines. This is a resource-intensive hurdle that would allow for much more design freedom if removed.
“NHTSA is using all of its available tools to accelerate the deployment of technologies that can eliminate 94 percent of fatal crashes involving human error,” said Mark Rosekind, National Highway Traffic Safe Administration. “We will work with state partners toward creating a consistent national policy on these innovations, provide options now and into the future for manufacturers seeking to deploy autonomous vehicles, and keep our safety mission paramount at every stage.”
While some automakers feel that the government regulations have hindered testing, the Department of Transportation is working to improve relationships with these manufacturers. The NHTSA encourages automakers to submit exemption requests to allow for expanded deployment of cars in the interest of safety feature development.
The balance between safety and customer experience can sometimes seem like a tug-of-war, but the newest test models of driverless vehicles have proven that both can be significantly enhanced at the same time. As the race to a driverless road continues, the brand loyalty stakes continue to rise higher and higher. Once nationwide regulations are put into place, the automated driving experience will likely evolve faster than ever before.