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WASHINGTON – On a unanimous voice vote, a Senate committee approved legislation Oct. 4 that authorizes self-driving car makers to sell as many as 80,000 vehicles a year within three years that would be exempt from current safety standards as manufacturers develop technology for autonomous vehicles.

U.S. residents are “polarized” on whether to embrace driverless cars, according to a survey by insurer American International Group Inc.

Uber Technologies Inc. hired an engineer to lead its driverless car program last year even after its own research revealed red flags about how much proprietary information he took from his former employer, Waymo.

The idea of highways being filled with self-driving cars may be alluring, but it has highway safety experts raising numerous questions about common contemporary issues like drunk driving, seat belt use and how other motorists might react to a car without a driver behind the wheel.

“Trucks are going to be around for a very long time.”

Rio Tinto Group, the world’s second-largest mining company, is focused as much on driver-less trucks and automated drills as conventional shovels and loaders these days. That means it needs a whole lot more high-tech workers.

Self-driving truck technology being developed by Caterpillar Inc. at its Tucson, Ariz., division headquarters will soon be used more extensively by iron ore mines in Australia

Delphi’s self-driving car efforts in Pittsburgh and elsewhere will go by a new name, the company announced Sept. 27.

Ford will begin testing self-driving cars on ride-hailing company Lyft’s network with human drivers at the wheel for backup, the companies said Sept. 26.

As the Obamacare reform debate rages on in full force, U.S. Sen. John Thune doesn’t have his sights set entirely on the headline-stealing topics of health care and tax reform. The always busy South Dakota Republican is also eyeing legislation for the growing autonomous vehicle market, or self-driving cars.