Several autonomous vehicle developers stopped their on-road testing to keep staff at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, but others pivoted to COVID-19 relief, not only to be useful but to gain experience. Some companies and developers in this space have taken this opportunity to deploy self-driving cars and driverless bots to help deliver goods both on the frontlines and to residents during the stay-at-home orders across the country, including pharmaceutical deliveries for those affected by the virus and quarantined at home. Additionally, many of these cars and bots have been used to deliver food, water, supplies and equipment to staff at temporary health care facilities, which has assisted in reducing contact among workers on the front lines. Others have used driverless vehicles to deliver food from food banks to senior centers and groceries to those individuals who are at higher risk. In this time of need, the autonomous driving vehicle industry has leveraged its existing capabilities to assist the community. Now, the industry, with more experience under its belt and real-life testing of its capabilities, may be able to make some headway in receiving more approvals and exemptions from the Department of Transportation in the future.

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