Love the idea or hate it, self-driving cars rolled a step closer to reality Monday when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released its Federal Automated Vehicles Policy.  Designed to establish uniform rules for quickly evolving autonomous driving technology, the policy attempts to strike a balance between innovation and public safety.

The policy represents the first time NHTSA regulations have addressed self-driving cars. Prior regulations were established before self-driving cars were even considered possible. Its primary focus is on so-called Highly Automated Vehicles, or HAVs, that can take over driving in certain situations. Well-known HAVs include the Tesla Model S and Model X with Autopilot and Google's self-driving car, among others.  

Among the policy's guidelines is a 15-point safety assessment that sets clear expectations for manufacturers including guidelines for testing and validation, data recording to help reconstruct and understand crashes, privacy protections for users and consumer education and training. 

As much as autonomous cars "hold enormous potential benefits for safety, mobility and sustainability," according to a NHTSA statement, self-driving technology is also a work in progress, even as multiple auto makers have said they will make self-driving cars available to the public before 2021.

“There’s an interesting dichotomy between the potential safety benefits of autonomous technology and the potential risk we’ll be facing as this tech goes from the trial-and-error to ready-for-prime-time," said Karl Brauer, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book. "The DOT's guidelines clearly attempt to balance these issues by creating a far more responsive system for monitoring self-driving technology while allowing for quick course corrections as needed. The government doesn’t want to stifle autonomous innovation, particularly in an era when human-caused traffic fatalities are rising again."

Traffic fatalities are on track to reach 40,000 in the U.S. this year, according to the National Safety Council -- the highest level since 2008.

Applicable to passenger cars, as well as trucks and buses, the policy distinguishes between federal and state responsibilities for the regulation of HAVs. And it allows more flexibility in granting exemptions that would allow for timely testing of new technologies. It used to take several months to several years for NHTSA to grant such exemptions; under the new policy, manufacturers are guaranteed a response within six months.

California, Nevada, Florida and Michigan are among just seven states with laws about self-driving cars in the U.S. But the new federal policy includes a so-called model state policy for additional states that want to regulate the testing, deployment and operation of HAVs on public roads.

In response to the federal policy, the California Department of Motor Vehicles issued a statement saying it "welcomes the NHTSA release of the Federal Automated Vehicle Policy" and supports NHTSA's goal of creating a consistent approach and national framework for testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles.

The California DMV is currently reviewing its own self-driving policy and plans to release revised draft regulations in the next few weeks.