Driverless Car Technology Is Here, Are We Ready?

Multiple news sources have been covering the development of the Google cars and the wonders that the autonomous car technology can achieve.

Several auto experts have stated they are excited to see this technology catching on and hope that the autonomous technology will be useful when it comes to preventing accidents. According to several news agencies, some are still skeptical of how the Google car technology will keep us safe. The reports indicate that BMW, General Motors and Toyota are working to also develop autonomous technology, but Google seems to be the only company that might have the most advanced and functional driverless car technology ready to go.

Google cars have already logged over 300,000 miles of test drive. According to some of the official reports, 50,000 miles were completely driven without any human intervention. Google has been working on developing this technology and since the first time it was announced, which was in October of 2010, engineers reported that once of the biggest challenges they would have to face while working on this system was to develop a program that would make accidents 100 percent avoidable.

In spite of how advanced the technology already is, some think Google still has long ways to go in order to make sure that the vehicle is able to obey traffic signs and identify persons correctly. Bad weather could also be a problem. The company has stated that it’s working to make the autonomous technology more reliable when it’s raining heavily outside or when the vehicle needs to drive on icy or snowy roads.

Up to this moment, the Google cars haven’t been involved in any accident while the technology is in command of the wheel. According to the company, the only incident reported in 2011 happened when a human was operating the autonomous Google car, not the system.

Critics are concerned with the reliability of these vehicles and how safe the technology can be due to the fact that certain aspects of driving depend on a series of signals and small gestures. Construction projects, for an instance, could present a challenge to driverless cars. Would this technology be aware it must slow down when needed? Giving the right of way to another vehicle at a stop sign or having to perform judgment tasks that are still quite sharp when it comes to the autonomous car technology.

Some are also concerned about the legal aspect of the autonomous car technology. Who would be held accountable in the event of an accident and would the driver get a ticket if an autonomous vehicle gets pulled over?

All of these concerns make it clear that several groups are still uncomfortable with the autonomous car technology. To learn more about the types of challenges the developer of the Google cars are facing, click here for the full article.