Google’s self-driving car takes to the road

Imagine a future stepping into your car in the morning, sitting back in the seat whilst your car drives YOU to work. You have a productive journey into work catching up on your emails rather than staring at mind-numbing traffic. After enjoying a couple of drinks after work, imagine entrusting your car to drive you safely home. Sounds too good to be true? Well this could be a thing of the future as this week Nevada has licensed Google to trial its prototype self-driven car out on the roads. If this new technology takes off and becomes a thing of the future how will driverless cars change the roads we drive on?

Having first passed tests on the Las Vegas Strip, the state of Nevada is next in line to see the US’s first self-driven car on its streets - a Toyota Prius modified by Internet search company Google. So what would a future with self-driven cars look like?
Taking people out of the equation and relying on technology to take the driving seat would mean a lot safer roads. Every year more than 1.2 million people die and 50 million are injured in road accidents. Automated cars don’t get distracted, change over the radio station or make a phone call or text.
Googles car adheres strictly to the speed limit and follows the rules of the road, says Tom Jacobs, spokesman for the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles. ˜When the car is on self-driving mode, it doesnt speed, it doesnt cut you off, it doesnt tailgate.˜ Self-driven cars can process information faster than human drivers thus reducing the risk of accidents. Analysts foresee in the future they will also be able to communicate with one another, letting them negotiate overtaking and lane changing.
Another advantage of taking the driver away from the steering wheel is the decline of traffic jams. Traffic often results from the amount of cars increasing on a road. Drivers slow down to accommodate the shorter distance between them and the vehicle in front. With technology permitting self-driven vehicles to communicate with one another, in theory they could travel bumper to bumper at high speed thus getting rid of any congestion.
Legislation to regulate self-driven cars is also being looked at in other states including Google’s resident state California. Autonomous car licenses are also being sought by other car companies.