Google Self-Driving Cars to Hit Public Roads this Summer

Google announced today that Google Car prototype vehicles will leave the test track and hit the familiar roads of Mountain View.

Now it became clear. The discussion about accidents and Google’s self-driving cars in the media came at an inconvenient time for Google. This is why Google quickly responded to the reports that Google self-driving cars have been involved in accidents. Google’s Chris Urmson, Director, Google Self-Driving Car Project did his best to explain that the reported accidents have not been the fault of Google’s fault. Additionally the number is really low and the type of accidents have been minor as reported. 

Today Google announced that this summer, a few of the self-driving prototype cars will leave the test track and hit the familiar roads of Mountain View, Calif., with Google’s safety drivers aboard. The new prototypes will drive with the same software that our existing fleet of self-driving Lexus RX450h SUVs uses.

That fleet has logged nearly a million autonomous miles on the roads since Google started the project, and recently has been self-driving about 10,000 miles a week. So the new prototypes already have lots of experience to draw on. It’s the equivalent of about 75 years of typical American adult driving experience. I hope the 75 year old computers don’t show the same behavior of some senior drivers then.

The Self-driving Google Cars can only go 25mph. The video below takes you inside the new Google Cars. These bug shaped tiny cars look like straight out of a Japanese kids cartoon. 

Will Google succeed to change traffic in cities of the future with these cars? Will future cities full of cute tiny cars like in this Japanese Kids cartoon Robocar Poli TV?