Driverless Cars to be a Reality This Summer

Technology takes a giant leap forward as the latest version of Google's self-driving car will debut on public roads this summer.

The two-seater driverless car needs no gas pedal or steering wheel and has to be recharged after every 80 miles. The car lacks air bags; it can't go more than 25 miles per hour and is not apt for a long ride. These cars have been assembled in suburban Detroit by Roush Industries and have the same array of radars, lasers and cameras as Google's Lexus SUVs.

Google informed that this prototype is the first vehicle built from scratch for the purpose of self-driving. It looks like a ‘Smart car’, with a shiny black bowler hat to hide its sensors, and it can drive, brake and recognize road hazards without human intervention.

Google initially plans to build 25 cars and test them in neighborhoods surrounding its Mountain View headquarters. Eventually, it would build another 50 to 100 cars and will test them on hillier and rainier sites.

Sergey Brin, Google co-founder stated that the ultimate goal is to design a computer-controlled car that can eliminate human error. He asserts that additionally these self-driving cars would improve traffic congestion and help to transport the elderly and disabled.

However, the current California regulations require a car to have a steering wheel and gas pedal and also require a driver to be able to take back control of the car at any time. Thus, Google is lobbying for more flexible regulations.

Furthermore, it seems an uphill task to convince the consumers that driverless technology is safe, amidst question like who will be liable if there's an accident and how self-driving cars will interact with regular cars. Google cars are also criticized for being programmed to act in the most conservative way when they confront something unusual.

Chris Urmson, who directs Google's self-driving car project stated, “Our goal is to create something safer than human drivers”.