Self-driving cars will soon be zipping around New York City, but they won’t be without supervision. 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has given his approval for several autonomous vehicle companies to deploy cars, but he is mandating these vehicles be accompanied by a person behind the wheel in case of an emergency.

“This technology is coming whether we like it or not, so we’re going to make sure that we get it right,” Adams said in a statement. “If we do, our streets can be safer, and our air could be cleaner.”

On Thursday, he released requirements for companies to begin the testing phase of the autonomous vehicles driving on the road.

Safety drivers will be required to submit background checks and complete training on the vehicles they will be testing. The city is also requiring companies to undergo a testing procedure and submit a safety plan before being deployed on the streets. 

“Our streets are vibrant and energetic — and that’s a great thing, but it also means that we need to have strong guardrails and requirements in place on any sort of autonomous vehicles,” Adams said. 

There is no timetable set for when the cars will be deployed. 

The decision to incorporate autonomous vehicles on the road has been met with opposition by Danny Harris, executive director of the safe streets advocacy group Transportation Alternatives. He claimed autonomous vehicles pose a risk to drivers’ and pedestrians’ safety. 

“New Yorkers should not be lab rats for the car industry, which has already killed and injured thousands of our neighbors,” Harris told the New York Post. 

Autonomous vehicles have already made their way to California, frustrating drivers in San Francisco due to their obstruction of buses and emergency vehicles and causing gridlock. 

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There are safety concerns, too. A pedestrian was dragged nearly 20 feet by a self-driving General Motors Cruise, and a bicyclist was hit by a Waymo vehicle last month. 

Despite this, Waymo received approval from California regulators to deploy self-driving cars in Los Angeles earlier this month.