Mega-famous Google’s self-driving car is still in the works, despite the fact that the car’s been on the road for a while. The tech-savvy company has been working hard to create the vehicle of the future, mapping out routes around major cities and suburbs in states such as California, Florida and Texas, testing the vehicle’s every motion to ensure absolute safety and precaution. Whether or not you know much about this self-driving vehicle, there are a few things you probably know.
It’s Still in Test Mode
The self-driving car is not anywhere near ready to come out of test mode. It’s currently loaded with cameras, sensors and radars along with GPS. This helps the vehicle to map its surroundings so that it can anticipate every stop light, stop sign and street corner. The car drives through cities mapping them out so that it can anticipate every turn.
It’s Been in an Accident
The Google driverless car has been involved in an accident. Rest assured, however, that it wasn’t the self-driving vehicle’s fault. The car was rear-ended by another driver, one who wasn’t paying much attention to the road. So while the vehicle is designed to be as safe as possible, it can’t account for others on the road who aren’t – at least not yet, anyway.
There are Other Issues to Work Out
No matter how safe the car actually is, there are several obstacles the driverless car will have to go through if it ever wants to be made public. For example, it has to be decided who will be faulted for accidents that might involve two self-driving vehicles or a pedestrian and a self-driving vehicle. Marketing this product isn’t about making it work; it’s about considering all the additional factors as well.
Snow or No?
While Google’s analysts and creators have managed to make the self-driving car run well in the rain and fog, they’ve yet to attempt snow. Before the vehicle can become something publicly available, it has to be able to go through any type of weather condition and understand how to drive when conditions are less than ideal.
90 Percent of Accidents are Related to Human Error
Chris Urmson is the project director for Google’s self-driving car. He states that 90 percent of all vehicle accidents are caused by human error and that his goal is to make this go away. Approximately 33,000 people die each year from being involved in a car accident, and the potential of this self-driving car to eliminate most of those senseless deaths is promising.
Photo Credit: Google
