Self-Driving Cars Still Gets Into Crashes Says Google

According to the AP News Wire, it looks like even self driving cars with radar and collision detecting algorithms that can make decisions faster than a human being still get into collisions. According to Google, since the self-driving car program began over 6 years ago utilizing Lexus RX450h crossovers, Google has been involved in 11 collisions.

That might seem a lot, but consider that this has been over 1.7 million miles driven over a six-year period. That’s actually pretty good considering how long the program has been going on.

According to Google, “Not once has a collision been a result of a self-driving car being the cause.” Almost all the crashes were minor and didn’t involve an injured party.

"John Simpson, privacy project director of the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog, notes that Google’s ultimate goal is a car without a steering wheel or pedals. This could prevent a person from taking over if a car loses control, making it “even more important that the details of any accidents be made public — so people know what the heck’s going on.”"

But will Google’s self-driving cars actually hit the roads without human beings behind the wheel anytime soon? Probably not.

You can expect the future of self-driving cars to have a cooperation between human and technology. All you have to do is look up to the skies for an example of this.

Airplanes operate on a similar principle with the plane doing most of the flying with the ability for humans to intervene at a given notice.

Not to mention the fact that self-driving cars don’t yet have the ability to operate in all different conditions. Heavy rain, snow or even parking lots? Self-driving cars are still having a tough time.

But at the rapid pace development is taking place with self-driving cars, solutions to all these seemingly little problems will soon be overcome.

Will there ever be no human at the drivers wheel? Probably not.