[Mark]

Google have announced they've been testing cars on the road without drivers! Exciting stuff!

So we have developed technology for cars that can drive themselves. Our automated cars, manned by trained operators, just drove from our Mountain View campus to our Santa Monica office and on to Hollywood Boulevard. They’ve driven down Lombard Street, crossed the Golden Gate bridge, navigated the Pacific Coast Highway, and even made it all the way around Lake Tahoe. All in all, our self-driving cars have logged over 140,000 miles. We think this is a first in robotics research.

Our automated cars use video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder to “see” other traffic, as well as detailed maps (which we collect using manually driven vehicles) to navigate the road ahead. This is all made possible by Google’s data centers, which can process the enormous amounts of information gathered by our cars when mapping their terrain.

News Article: http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/09/google-car-video/

Official Announcement: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-were-driving-at.html

[Mark]

Safer roads I suppose, apparently cut accidents by half. Also, you can relax on long journeys and do something productive on your commute.

[Mark]

And if the car malfunctions and you can't stop it? Wouldn't that mean that there may be less accidents but a higher percentage would be fatal?

I suppose they won't release it until the chance of malfunction is not worth thinking about, much like malfunctions on planes that are fatal. We have faith in a lot of automated stuff that could be deadly.. traffic lights, level crossings.

[Mark]

If actual cars malfunctioned as often as traffic lights here went out, we'd be burying a lot more people.

OK, a better example would be automated trains being used on various subway systems around the world. Apparently there are automated trains on London Underground's DLR and Central Line services.

But seriously, why would this be considered a pressing matter?

It's not a pressing matter, Google have huge resources and they like to try and change the world for the better with various projects... like Google TV which is about to seriously kick off, this is just one of those projects and it would be pretty cool if it works out.

[Mark]

I wonder what the insurance for that sort of stuff is like

You'd probably get a very nice discount on car insurance if you used this type of thing.

Would maybe be a solution for the disabled

Didn't think of that! That is one huge benefit indeed!

[Mark]

Yes, driver sits in the same seat and can override as easy as cruise control on a normal car.

[Neil]

The danger is, people get used to them being automated and they switch off, and don't take over when they need to. Or even fall asleep! Accidents caused by stupidity would certainly fall, but the car wouldn't be able to avoid someone else piling into it, or pulling out in front of it at lights or what not. It's an awesome concept, but I feel it would have to be applied to every vehicle so that they all "knew" where each other was without sensors for other non-automated vehicles. Time will tell though

[robbie]

Will have to be a bloody good automated system if it,s to prevent woman drivers having accidents,