Google self-driving cars hitting California roads by mid-year
By Robin-Leigh Chetty 15 May 2015 | Categories: newsGoogle's self-driving cars project is not slowing down, as the company took to its blog to announce that a select number of prototype vehicles will be hitting California roads within coming months. Although an exact date is unknown, the blog post referenced "this summer", which for those living in the Southern hemisphere, means before mid-year in the States.
Google believes their self-driving cars will totally revolutionise the concept of transport, specifically when it comes to safety and the prevention of accidents. In fact, Google also released a study that found that self-driving cars reduced the chance of accidents by an impressive 94%. Added to this, is that only 11 accidents involving self-driving cars have been reported since Google began using them almost six years ago.
The cars will not be completely vacant however, as Google's safety drivers will also be onboard, should anything crop up. The select number of self-driving cars will be using roads in the Mountain View area of California, and will utilise the same technology that Google's current fleet of Lexus RX450h SUVs do. The car of choice however, will be the yet-to-be officially named self-driving car that Google debuted last year, which kind of look like large Jelly Tot if you asks us.
Google says it's excited to see the results that the next step in its self-driving program will yield. "We’re looking forward to learning how the community perceives and interacts with the vehicles, and to uncovering challenges that are unique to a fully self-driving vehicle," Google concluded.
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