Google has unveiled its first of the one hundred vehicles that have no pedals or steering wheels, but which comes with two seats and can reach the speed of 25 mph. It’s the first prototype of a driverless car and its design isn’t out of the common.
If until now, you’ve seen driverless cars only in the movies and you thought this concept will never be put into practice, well Google succeeded and built the first vehicle that runs without a steering wheel or pedals. The company has successfully tested its first driverless car and intends to build 99 more vehicles for testing.
Google has tried for many years to equip cars with sensors, computers and navigation equipment in order to make them drive themselves, but only recently, the company has developed a prototype that is controlled by humans, although the vehicle has only one button – the emergency button, and nothing else. Though, the car can be controlled manually, because the law in California, Nevada and Florida allow cars on the streets only if they driver can take control of it.
Google driverless cars can improve road safety
Google’s headquarters are in California, so the company intends to extend its tests here.
Chris Urmson, director of Google’s self-driving car project, believes that the driverless cars will be “an important step toward improving road safety and transforming mobility for millions of people”, and they will contribute to the improvement of road safety.
Drivers can be unpredictable
The company would have removed the conventional controls because humans have the bad habit of panicking and they feel the need to take over the wheel or to press the pedals, becoming dangerous. Chris Urmson told the New York Times that “We saw stuff that made us a little nervous” and this might be the reason why the company would have wanted to get rid of all manual controls.
This vehicle can reach 25mph (40km/h), and can follow a route that is displayed on a screen. The sensors can determine the car’s location, by “seeing” hundreds of meters ahead.
On Tuesday, Google has presented this prototype, allowing random people to test it. Check out this video to see people’s impressions after “driving” this car:
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