Major US e-hailing ride service provider Lyft has recently received permission to test self-driving cars in California. It gives Lyft an edge among its competitors who also provide self-driving services to the target customers.
Lyft’s permit appeared recently on the California Department of Motor Vehicles’ list of permit holders giving an indication that the e-hailing ride service provider was soon coming up with its first test robot taxis. Lyft has not given any clear indication of whether it will test the vehicles with its own patented software and hardware entourage, or whether it will seek technological help from some of its partners like Ford, General Motors, Waymo, NuTonomy, Drive.ai, and so on, with whom it has teamed up before.
Lyft has decided to obtain a license ahead of time to step into the self-driving vehicle market. Some major automakers and companies including Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics, Tesla Inc, Volkswagen, Ford and others have also applied for the permit.
After registering with the DMV, Lyft will now have to provide specific information about its activities including an annual disengagement report regarding number of instances, if any, when the human drivers had to manually control the vehicles
Self-driving vehicles can help in safely transporting the passengers to their destinations by significantly reducing the risk of accidents. They reduce traffic congestion by employing self-driving cars as they could assess the situation and take alternative routes to reach the destination, avoiding traffic congestion. Self-driving cars, with the help of car-to-car communication can anticipate the moves of the vehicles running next to them, which can reduce the risks of accidents. Lyft intends to provide its customers the best possible service by employing these features in its range of self-driving cars.