Google's Self Driven Cars Are On The Roads Of California

Google started testing its self-driven car prototypes on public roads of California. In a Google blog, company project director Chris Urmson confirmed that few of the prototype vehicles will drive through the roads around the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters by this summer.

Aiming at transforming the mobility of millions of people Google unveiled its next generation self-driven fleet almost a year ago. This will be the first instance that a two seat, pod-like vehicle have been allowed on public roads. The speed of the car will be capped at 25mph. Earlier they were restricted to a private track on a former Air Force base near San Francisco. Safety drivers will accompany the cars in case of emergency.

The cars running on public roads will have manual override controls such as steering wheel, accelerator pedal and brake pedal in case it gets out of its elements. The new models are designed to work without a steering wheel or brake pedal.

Google’s prototypes will run with the same software used by Google’s self-driven Lexus RX450h fleet. The company has also launched a website where people can find themselves driving along these prototypes. What was it like? Thrilling? Annoying? Google wants to know with a dedicated feedback page. On the website drivers can share their experiences.

This maiden initiative will help Google gauge how well its technology works. The team is still combating issues and working on “uncovering challenges that are unique to a fully self-driving vehicle — e.g. where it should stop if it can't stop at its exact destination due to construction or congestion”, as Urmson specifies. Google hopes that these self-driven cars will be joining the busy traffic flow by the end of this year.