Paying attention to the road may be optional starting as early as next year.

That is, if a California Department of Motor Vehicles proposal goes through. As reported by the Associated Press, the DMV issued proposed rules last week to road-test self-driving cars. This applies to truly driverless vehicles, without a wheel or any other way for the person inside to operate it.

According to DMV rules, the cars could be road-tested starting late 2017, and become commercially available by 2018. The rules are also subject to a public comment period and federal approval would still be needed before the people could hit the road in fully autonomous vehicles.

Do you think these cars are almost ready for prime-time? Would you feel safe in driverless technology by 2018?

Guests:

Ashley Z. Hand, co-founder of CityFi, a company that focuses on the integration of technology in the urban environment. She recently served as the Transportation Technology Strategist for the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation, and developed public policy for shared mobility, automated vehicles and other technologies; she tweets @azhandkc

Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog; the organization has raised concerns about the safety of driverless vehicles