Nevada Passes Law Authorizing Driverless Cars Jun. 22 2011 - 5:29 pm | 1,718 views | 0 recommendations | 1 comment By ALEX KNAPP The State of Nevada just passed Assembly Bill No. 511 which, among other things, authorizes the Department of Transportation to develop rules and regulations governing the use of driverless cars, such as Google’s concept car, on its roads. As Stanford Professor Ryan Calo notes, this is a big step forward in ensuring that safe, driverless cars become a reality. Specifically, the law provides that the Nevada Department of Transportation “shall adopt regulations authorizing the operation of autonomous vehicles on highways within the State of Nevada.”  The law charges the Nevada DOT with setting safety and performance standards and requires it to designate areas where driverless cars may be tested. (Note that this could take some serious time: Japan, for instance, has been promising standards for personal robots for years and has yet to release them.)