Google Inc. threw the auto industry another curve ball, saying its autonomous cars should be on public roads within five years without having to drive through a thicket of regulatory red tape. Speaking at a conference in Detroit, the chief of the software giant’s autonomous-car project, Chris Urmson, indicated widespread auto industry concern about regulation of self-driving cars is overblown. The onus, he said, is on developers of these vehicles to tackle safety challenges and work to boost public acceptance. “We don’t think there is a regulatory block,†Mr. Urmson said. Google is working with U.S. regulators on testing driver less cars and “the worst thing possibly we could do is surprise them.†Google shed a spotlight on self-driving cars in 2009, when it began testing its own autonomous cars. The autonomous-car project is part of Google X, the innovations labs behind new and novel technology like Google Glass Web-connected eye wear.
