Self-Driving Car Gets Green Light to Sidestep U.S. Safety Rules

Self-driving robot start-up Nuro Inc. has been granted regulatory permission to deploy its grocery delivery vehicles on the nation’s roads, making the company’s autonomous vehicles the first approved to temporarily sidestep car-safety standards.

The company, founded by ex-Alphabet Inc. employees and backed by SoftBank Vision Fund, won an exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Thursday that allows it to deploy a car without side mirrors, rear visibility, and a glazed windshield. This relieves the company of complying with certain historic Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, the rules specifying the design, construction, and performance of cars. Those ...