NHTSA, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is trying to craft regulations for self-driving cars. In a letter to Google, the agency held out the possibility that it might consider the computer system in a self-driving car to be, in fact, the "driver."

That's important to the people trying to develop autonomous cars, because they want them to operate without the need to have a human monitoring.

California's Dept. of Motor vehicles has taken a much different tack. They've indicated they will require a licensed, human driver in self-driving cars, and that human must have a way to take control of the vehicle.

The DMV's position prompted a protest by a wide array of technology and automotive companies involved in developing self-drivers. Companies like Google point to disabled people, who may not be able to obtain drivers licenses, as an example of a group that could greatly benefit from autonomous vehicles. They also say requiring humans to be able to take control will make self-driving cars more, and not less dangerous.

There's lots of work to be done to develop regulations for autonomous cars, but California's role in setting standards is critical. Not only is the state home to a huge population, and lots of early adopters, but many of the companies working on self-drivers are based in California. In many cases, NHTSA follows the lead of the Golden State. But not in this one, and it's likely that in light of NHTSA's letter to Google, California regulators may be rethinking their position.