Motional Driverless Vehicles Okay on NV Roads

Source: Motional announcement

Boston — Motional is now operating driverless vehicles on public roads, becoming one of the world’s first companies to do so. The inaugural testing took place in Las Vegas this month and consisted of multiple driverless vehicles safely navigating intersections, unprotected turns, and interactions with other road users, including pedestrians and cyclists.

The company’s driverless operation follows decades of innovation, 1.5 million miles, and a two-year self-imposed safety evaluation process that took hundreds of employees more than 100,000 hours to complete.

During this process, Motional proactively sought external review; TÜV SÜD, a world-leading independent technical service provider with extensive experience assessing driverless technology, was given access to the company’s proprietary systems, technology, and operations.

Upon completion of its assessment, TÜV SÜD provided Motional with a first-of-its-kind endorsement to operate with an empty driver’s seat. The state of Nevada granted Motional permission to do so last November.

Following progress in 2020, Motional has established itself as the ridesharing industry’s robotaxi fleet provider of choice and is uniquely positioned to commercialize driverless technology. It is the sole driverless technology provider to have partnerships with two ridesharing leaders, including an agreement to launch the largest robotaxi deployment for a major ridesharing network.

“Not all driverless systems are created equal,” commented Karl Iagnemma, President and CEO, Motional. Ours is the product of decades of innovation, a relentless commitment to safety and process, more than a million miles of testing, and a rigorous external review.

“We’re one of the first companies in the world to go driverless. It’s a significant step on our path to making driverless vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality, and a proud day for Motional.”

Building public trust in driverless vehicles is critical. The technology has the power to save millions of lives, but for this potential to become a reality, the general public must trust and adopt it. Motional’s process went the extra mile to demonstrate the safety of its systems, and build consumer confidence.

To view the entire announcement, click HERE.