Yes, which is the scary part. Google&#x27;s PR seems to keep insinuating we might be able to ride in one as early as next year, or that the law is somehow a burden to the progress of this technology.<p>There&#x27;s already people advocating that California&#x27;s laws requiring self-driving cars be driven by licensed drivers are potentially discriminatory, and Google&#x27;s already complaining that their statistically-more-dangerous-than-people drivers currently require licensed drivers on the road: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2016-01-28&#x2F;self-driving-cars-would-need-a-driver-under-california-rules" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2016-01-28&#x2F;self-drivi...</a><p>Given where we&#x27;re at, it&#x27;s insane to consider California&#x27;s laws anything but reasonable. We&#x27;re a long way off from the necessary confidence to allow a driverless car to run without human intervention. But Google&#x27;s constant indications that this law and others like it are a problem insinuates a much higher confidence in their technology than any reasonable person should have.<p>Frequently in these sorts of discussions I&#x27;ve often seen people talking about 2018 or 2019 as likely consumer release dates, which seems to be the real incredible claim needing defense.