Of course the goal is to eventually reach a point where cars do not require human drivers and this is something that Waymo wants to put to the test. The company has recently filed for a permit that will allow them to test fully driverless cars in the state of California. As it stands Waymo is already running similar tests on public roads in Arizona, so it’s not surprising that they want to expand their testing to other parts of the US on different roads with different drivers.
According to a DMV spokesperson, they have confirmed and acknowledged that an application has been received but declined to comment as to its approval status. However it should be pointed out that earlier this month, California had already started to accept applications for fully driverless test permits, so it’s a matter of whether or not Waymo can meet the requirements in order to test out their self-driving tech.