Google's Self-Driving Pod Cars To Hit Public Streets in California | Edmunds.com

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MOUNTAIN VIEW, California — The Google self-driving pod car will enter a critical new testing phase this summer as prototype vehicles roll out on public streets in Mountain View, California, Google said in a blog post on Friday.

"Each prototype's speed is capped at a neighborhood-friendly 25 mph and during this next phase of our project we'll have safety drivers aboard with a removable steering wheel, accelerator pedal and brake pedal that allow them to take over driving if needed," wrote Chris Urmson, director of the Google self-driving car project.

This new phase of the project will gauge how people react to the Google self-driving cars and the reality of operating and maintaining the cars in the real world.

Google said it has built 25 of the self-driving vehicles so far and up until now has limited them to runs on the test track. The cars will be rolled out on public streets "a few at a time."

"We're looking forward to learning how the community perceives and interacts with the vehicles and to uncovering challenges that are unique to a fully self-driving vehicle," Urmson said.

The challenges may include such things as where the Google car should stop if it can't stop at its exact destination due to construction or congestion.

Google said the pod prototypes will get the same software used by its existing fleet of about 20 self-driving Lexus RX 450h SUVs. Those vehicles have already been deployed on streets in Mountain View, the home of Google's headquarters.

That fleet has logged nearly a million autonomous miles on the roads and recently has been self-driving about 10,000 miles a week.

"So the new prototypes already have lots of experience to draw on — in fact, it's the equivalent of about 75 years of typical American adult driving experience," Urmson noted.

He added that in the future, Google would like to run small pilot programs with the prototypes "to learn what people would like to do with vehicles like this."

Edmunds says: Self-driving cars edge closer to reality with this latest Google test. But we're still a long way from seeing them in showrooms and driveways at this point.

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Self-driving cars involved in accidents in California

Self-driving cars involved in accidents in CaliforniaAutoblog Staff

Four of the nearly 50 self-driving cars now rolling around California have gotten into accidents since September, when the state began issuing permits for companies to test them on public roads.

Two accidents happened while the cars were in control. In the other two a human was driving, a person familiar with the accident reports told The Associated Press. All four accidents involved speeds of less than 10 mph.

Three involved Lexus SUVs that Google outfitted with sensors and computing power in its aggressive effort to develop autonomous driving, a goal the tech giant shares with traditional automakers. Parts supplier Delphi Automotive had the other accident with one of its two test vehicles.

Google and Delphi said their cars were not at fault in any accidents, which the companies said were minor. Five other companies have testing permits. In response to questions from the AP, all said they had no accidents. In all, 48 cars are licensed to test on public roads.

Since September, any accident must be reported to the state Department of Motor Vehicles. The agency said there have been four, but would not comment about fault or anything else, citing California law that collision reports are confidential.

The fact that neither the companies nor the state have revealed the accidents troubles some, who say the public should have information to monitor the rollout of technology that its own developers acknowledge is imperfect.

John Simpson, a longtime critic of Google as privacy project director of the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog, pointed out that the company's ultimate goal is a car without a steering wheel or pedals. That would mean a person has no power to intervene if a car lost control, making it "even more important that the details of any accidents be made public - so people know what the heck's going on."

A chief selling point for self-driving cars is safety. Their cameras, radar and laser sensors give them a far more detailed understanding of their surroundings than humans have. Their reaction times also should be faster. Cars could be programmed to adjust if they sense a crash coming - move a few feet, tighten the seat belts, honk the horn or flash the lights in hope of alerting a distracted driver.

A higher priority so far is teaching them to avoid causing a serious accident that could set public and political acceptance of the technology back years, said Raj Rajkumar, a pioneer of the technology with Carnegie Mellon University.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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