Google Self-Driving Cars Could Be Slowed By Regulators

In the spring of 2014, Google showed off their self-driving car to the world. The pod-like vehicles transported selected passengers around a very secured area. The exhibition was part what seemed to be a campaign by Google to promote a safer future though these self-driving, communal vehicles. Chris Urmson, the Director of the Google Self-driving Cars, spoke out on this issue in a video.

Urmson said, “It’s 1.2 million people killed every year. Ninety-plus percent of that is human error. And so if we can bring in technology that’s always paying attention, that can see what’s going on around it, which never gets distracted, this is a huge opportunity. This is one of those 10x opportunities to save lives and make the world a better place. ”

This spring the Google self-driving car project continues to roll forward. A recent piece by USA Today involved a ride in a self-driving car and some insight from Urmson about where Google stands on their self-driving car project. During the USA Today ride, it was noted that the self-driving Lexus SUV was very cautious. However, Urmson admitted to USA Today self-driving car crashes will happen.

Urmson said, “If you buy a piece of tech and it says it’ll do X and it does Y, and you used it correctly, that gets settled in courts. They’ll be on the road and they won’t be perfect, no engineered system is. But we’re working hard to make things as perfect as they can be.” Urmson later noted he hopes to have self-driving cars ready before his 11-year-old is old enough to get his learner’s permit.

In addition to overcoming obstacles, the Google self-driving car will have to fair well with regulations as well as public acceptance. A recent report by the Wall-Street Journal pointed out some of the regulations self-driving cars will face. Essentially outsiders want to look at Google’s code for errors that could threaten safety. Google doesn’t think outsiders or regulators will be able to understand the code well enough in a few months to make regulatory decisions about it.