Milestone for self-driving cars

Handout photo courtesy of the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles shows a Google self-driven car in Las Vegas, May 1, 2012. Google's self-driven cars will soon be appearing on Nevada roads after the state's Department of Motor Vehicles approved on Monday the nation's first autonomous vehicle license. The move came after officials rode along on drives on highways, in Carson City neighborhoods and along the famous Las Vegas Strip, the Nevada DMV said in a statement. The Nevada legislature last year authorized self-driven cars for the state's roads, the first such law in the United States. That law went into effect on March 1, 2012. REUTERS/Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles/Handout (UNITED STATES - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY TRANSPORT) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Published May 8, 2012

Nevada drivers could soon be sharing the road with vehicles that don't need them.

Department of Motor Vehicles officials say they've issued Google the first US license to test self-driving cars on public streets.

Nevada officials said on Monday that demonstrations on the Las Vegas Strip and in Carson City helped show that the company was ready to move the autonomous cars into the next stage of development.

Self-driving vehicle technology works like auto-pilot to guide a car - in this case a modified Prius - with little or no intervention from a human operator.

Nevada's regulations require two people in the test cars at all times.

A DMV official said the cars will display red plates and an infinity symbol to represent their status as vehicles of the future. - Sapa-AP