LOS ANGELES - Companies that are developing self-driving cars of the future want government regulators to clear the road for public access to the technology.

California's Department of Motor Vehicles is wrestling with how to keep the public safe as an imperfect technology matures - but not regulate so heavily that the agency stifles the development of vehicles with potentially huge safety benefits.

On Thursday, DMV officials in Sacramento will hear from advocates and skeptics with strong opinions about precedent-setting draft regulations the agency released last month. Those regulations will govern the cars' rollout to residents, once they emerge from current prototype testing.

So far, the agency has taken a cautious approach that Google in particular says will hamper the technology.