It also proposes that companies in the industry share data from crashes and near-misses in order to build a more comprehensive picture than one company could manage alone, and therefore enable the design of better systems.
However, it adds that an individual's privacy should not be compromised by the sharing of such data. It suggests that the industry and regulators "address privacy challenges associated with the collection, use, and sharing of automated vehicle data", with collaboration from privacy experts outside the automotive industry.
Google is already testing self-driving cars on the roads. In October, electric carmaker Tesla announced that all the cars it now builds will have the hardware installed to drive on their own.
In the UK, an autonomous vehicle was test-driven in Milton Keynes in the summer, with further trials in London planned.