The automation of cars has been a long time coming. Mechanized functions like anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control, and even automated parallel parking have been mainstays in modern cars for decades.

But in the case of Google's self-driving car (or Alphabet's, as it were), the driver isn't assisted, but made redundant. This is a stark difference from even the next most advanced car with self-driving capability available to drivers today, Tesla's Model S and Model X lines. Having a human in the driver's seat has been the feature that makes self-driving cars seem sane, at least in 2016. But when the driver is separated from any control, the legality of the situation comes into question.

In a response to a letter from Google, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has said that it will interpret the law to consider Google's A.I. driver the same way they would a human, as Reuters reported.