Companies with a permit to test autonomous vehicles in California with a safety driver have clocked up nearly two millions miles, according to latest reports from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
The 63 annual reports submitted to the DMV summarize the disengagements reported during testing and reveal test vehicles traveled approximately 1.99 million miles in autonomous mode on California’s public roads during the reporting period – a decrease of about 800,000 miles from the previous reporting cycle.
The reports include the total number of disengagements, the circumstances or testing conditions, the location, and the total miles traveled in autonomous mode on public roads for each permit holder.
Disengagements can occur when a failure of the technology is detected or when the safety driver needs to take immediate control of the vehicle.
Currently, 55 companies have valid permits to test autonomous vehicles with a safety driver and six have a permit for driverless testing. All active testing permit holders that received authorization prior to 2020 were required to submit a disengagement report by January 1, 2021.
