According to several news agencies, the government will be launching a new research into the new autonomous car technology to identify just how reliable the self-driving vehicles are.

Self-driving cars may have been a dream to many, however, only recently the technology became developed enough to allow engineers to test this concept. Now that self-driving cars are more real than ever, lawmakers are hoping to be able to test the new system until they are completely sure it won’t pose any risks to drivers.

An article recently published reported that the government will get a new initiative that should be launched to determine whether self driving technology will be capable of offering drivers everywhere the reliability and safety that they are looking for the moment they sign up to use the autonomous device.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been looking into testing the technology along with Volvo. Automakers have been discussing the future of the technology along with Google, a spokesperson revealed. Before the vehicles are offered to consumers, federal agents must learn if the technology is safe.

Some engineers believe that the self-driving car technology will be able to reduce the number of accidents drastically since the technology will keep occupants and safe by cutting the risks drivers face when they are inattentive or fatigued.

Human error has been a main factor in 90 percent of all auto accidents recorded in 2010, according to a recent NHTSA memo. The federal agency reported that 90 percent of 33,000 traffic deaths have been linked to human error and not mechanical failure. By taking human driving out of the equation, self-driving cars will be able to curb the risk associated with distractions and inattentive driving, which could potentially make the roads much safer.

Lawmakers and engineers have been attempting to work together to make this technology safer and capable of helping a great number of people in the future.

Even after the self-driving technology becomes a reality, drivers will continue to monitor the vehicle’s system and what is going on outside of the car for quite sometime before the system is actually reliable enough to do all of the driving and monitoring on its own.

Drivers will be able to use the system by programming a destination into the vehicle’s system and allowing it to drive the vehicle until you reach your destination without having to actually steer and control the car.

For more on how the government hopes to test this system before it’s actually ready to be used, click here for the full report.