The U.S. Government does not need to set rules for self driving cars because the car manufacturers' reputations are on the line. They have to strive for a zero accident self-driving car because, if even one gets into a serious accident, people will be leary of purchasing self-driving cars from that company.

Americans still deeply skeptical about driverless cars: poll

Amid the daily cacophony of news and announcements about self-driving cars - Have you heard? They're coming! - it's easy to lose sight of a fundamental truth: most people still don't know what to think about this new technology.

From article, (Amid the daily cacophony of news and announcements about self-driving cars — Have you heard? They’re coming! — it’s easy to lose sight of a fundamental truth: most people still don’t know what to think about this new technology. What they do feel, however, is that Congress and the federal government should impose minimum safety requirements on these vehicles before they hit the road in mass numbers. But lawmakers and regulators in Washington appear poised to do just the opposite, and that has safety advocates up in arms.

“The Department of Transportation needs to issue some regulations as driverless vehicles are put onto the road to ensure a minimum level of safety and security,” said Jackie Gillan, president emeritus at the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. “Right now, that’s not the case.”

Congress has been under intense lobbying by the tech and auto industries to take a hands-off approach to autonomous vehicles. And in large part, Congress has complied, passing bills that maintain the laissez-faire approach first perfected by the Obama administration and now carried over to the Trump White House.

“I have repeatedly seen that when people ride in a fully self-driving vehicle for the first time, they quickly begin to recognize the tangible safety and mobility benefits this innovation will have for their daily life,” said David Strickland, a former administrator at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration who now runs the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets, a lobbying group funded by Ford, Lyft, Uber, Volvo, and Waymo. “As more consumers across the country experience self-driving in action, I’m confident that Americans will become more trusting in the technology and its transformational potential.”)

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Me, "The U.S. Government does not need to set rules for self driving cars because the car manufacturers' reputations are on the line. They have to strive for a zero accident car because, if even one gets into a serious accident, people will be leary of purchasing self-driving cars from them. 
While I admit, there should be some Data shown, at point of sales, of self-driving cars to allow a car buyer to have the knowledge of which car or brand to buy from. If a Self-driving car has all the safety features, of today's car, and can seriously limit accidents, I think those results will speak for themselves, and not need additional regulations."