Chris Urmson told a Senate hearing that the US Transport Secretary should be given authority over the matter rather than leaving it to individual states.
He also reiterated his company’s view that it would be safer if passengers were not able to override a vehicle’s autonomous systems.
That contrasts with the view of California’s regulator.
The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles published draft rules in December that said a trained human must still be able to take control.
“We currently face a growing patchwork of state laws and regulations on self-driving cars that has the potential to become unworkable,” Mr Urmson said.
“If every state is left to go its own way, it would be extremely impractical to operate an autonomous vehicle across state boundaries.”
His view was supported at the Senate Commerce Committee by the pick-up service Lyft, which has partnered with General Motors to develop their own driverless cars.
“The worst possible scenario for the growth of autonomous vehicles is an inconsistent and conflicting patchwork of local, municipal and county laws that will hamper efforts to bring autonomous vehicle technology to market,” said Joseph Okpaku, Lyft’s director of public policy.
“Regulations are necessary, but regulatory restraint and consistency is equally as important if we are going to allow this industry to reach its full potential.”
