Driverless Cars

Google Driverless Cars

It is undeniable that self-driving cars are the way of the future. Many people believe that not too far from now, we will all be living in a world where the majority of the cars on the street can and will drive themselves. Statistically speaking, there will be less accidents, more free time and many other opportunities will present themselves when these cars become fully integrated. In this world, we would not have to worry about drunk drivers, the visually impaired, the elderly, nor reckless teenagers checking their cell phones. As you may already know, Google has opened the door to this future by unveiling their first (non-public) self-driving car in 2014.

The goal of Google’s driverless car is to get passengers from point A to point B in just the push of a button. But, Google’s isn’t just focused on the convenience factor that their cars will bring, one of their top priorities is the safety benefits that the autonomous cars come with. Statistics show that Google’s autonomous car will greatly reduce many of the common dangers associated with human error. Google started designing and building this project in 2009, and are currently testing it in many cities on the West Coast. Google says that self-driving cars will supposedly be legal in 30 U.S. cities by the end of 2016. As of now, Google hopes to have the cars ready for commercial, public use by 2020.

These driverless cars were developed by X, a research and development company. Since the beginning of October 2015 they have operated as a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. Previously named “Google X”, X has worked on a variety of other projects such as “Project Wing”, “Project Glass”, and “Project Loon”. Their most famous project that initiated the creation of X was the self-driving car. The person in charge of all of X’s activities is a scientist and entrepreneur that goes by the name, Astro Teller. The chief engineer, that led the driverless car project was a man named Sebastian...