[release]
[img]http://www6.pcmag.com/media/images/322172-google-s-self-driving-car.jpg?thumb=y[/img]
Nevada has become the first state in the United States to approve self-driving cars, a necessary step for Google's vision to become a reality.
In a statement, the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles said that its Legislative Commission today approved regulations allowing for the operation of self-driving vehicles on the state's roadways. Nevada's rules are the next step in a process began last June, when the state passed a bill that required its DMV to draft the rules.
Autonomous test vehicles will display a red license plate, Nevada officials said. If and when the technology is approved for public use, the cars will carry a green license plate. Nevada's standard licese plates are bluish-gray, with most of the license plate representing mountains fading into a yellowish sky.
The regulations are a boon for Google, which stunned the industry in late 2010 when it disclosed that it not only had developed an autonomous car, but had successfully tested it on public roadways. Now, Nevada could be prepping for the first self-driving cars to populate the streets of Las Vegas, among other cities.
"Nevada is the first state to embrace what is surely the future of automobiles," Department of Motor Vehicles director Bruce Breslow said in a statement. "These regulations establish requirements companies must meet to test their vehicles on Nevada's public roadways as well as requirements for residents to legally operate them in the future."
Nevada said it worked with Google, automobile manufacturers, testing professionals, insurance companies, universities and law enforcement to develop the regulations. Other states also have similar bills that will be voted upon to determine if they, too, can follow suit.
"Our work doesn't stop here," Breslow said. "The department is currently developing licensing procedures for companies that want to test their self-driving vehicles in Nevada. Nevada is proud to be the first state to embrace this emergent technology and the department looks forward to sustaining partnerships as the technology evolves."
In August of 2010, Google actually said that its cars had traveled more than 160,000 miles without incident - not without driver intervention, but without an accident. Video confirmed that one of Google's self-driving cars had been involved in a fender-bender, that Google blamed on the Google human driver in the car, rather than the vehicle's autonomous systems. (Google has also released videos of its autonomous vehicles in action.)
Sergey Brin, a Google co-founder who has taken the self-driving car and other special projects under his wing, has he wants the self-driving car to drive a million miles without an accident. The company has also patented a "landing strip" for the cars, able to orient it or transfer information to it via short-range wireless technologies.
Two other car companies have publicly said they're developing autonomous cars, as well: Audi and Volkswagen.[/release]
[url]http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2400400,00.asp[/url]
I bet the cars is from Area 51.
But why the different color for the license plates?
I can't even handle how my window automatically closes and opens all the way with one push, I'd freak out in one of these
Just thinking that was relevant. Also, I don't like the idea of driverless cars.
I remember reading a short apocalypse book where a meteor destroys the earth. In the beginning there were self driven cars that were so advanced the driving age was lowered to 14.
Aslong as you can always turn on a manual mode easily, I would love driverless cars.
[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;34777709]But why the different color for the license plates?[/QUOTE]
When I drive I'd like to be aware of the cars that are autonomous.
I, Robot, much?
I absolutely [I]refuse[/I] to use a self driving car unless it has an easy access manual override for control.
[QUOTE=S31-Syntax;34778181]I absolutely [I]refuse[/I] to use a self driving car unless it has an easy access manual override for control.[/QUOTE]
[img]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qEYM4p2Oy8/SdwMceSZiQI/AAAAAAAACOk/zU5FCRborgw/s400/panic+button.jpg[/img]
Given Google's privacy record, I don't want to spend $30 or $40 thousand dollars on a car that feeds Google's servers information on everywhere I go and everything I do.
Bastards.
Up here in Canada we aren't even allowed to drive a segway.
[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;34777709]But why the different color for the license plates?[/QUOTE]
We have like a billion plates for all different kinds of things here. Not sure if other states do as well though.
Also yay. I read about this last Thursday in the RN&R.
I don't understand why everyone is so afraid of self driving cars.
They've been testing them for a while, and there was not a single crash. They're really damn advanced, its amazing really.
I'd literally take out a loan for one of these. I have driving anxiety and as a result I can't even go to Burger King because it's on a three lane roadway around here. I also can't go to events for my hobby held more than 40 minutes away.
I can already see the knee-jerk reaction when one of these goes wrong. Of course, the irony is that people assume that if they're driving, they'd be safer than a computer capable of making ludicrously complicated calculations in a split second, with the ability to monitor it's entire surroundings at all times. Strange, unfortunate thing, human ego.
[QUOTE=Collin665;34778407]I don't understand why everyone is so afraid of self driving cars.
They've been testing them for a while, and there was not a single crash. They're really damn advanced, its amazing really.[/QUOTE]
I think it's more a hatred of having control taken away. Personally, I can't wait for these to replace humans completely.
I quite enjoy driving though :(
The only thing I don't get is how it works with lanes. Certain lanes you can only take rights, or lefts or go straight through. I get that.
But like, what if there is so much traffic that the sensor can't visually see the lines on the road ahead or around it? GPS of course marks out the "left up ahead" and "right at the intersection" but the GPS doesn't tell you which lane to get into to get that accomplished.
[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;34777709]But why the different color for the license plates?[/QUOTE]
To keep down calls to 911
[QUOTE=CodeMonkey3;34778444]The only thing I don't get is how it works with lanes. Certain lanes you can only take rights, or lefts or go straight through. I get that.
But like, what if there is so much traffic that the sensor can't visually see the lines on the road ahead or around it? GPS of course marks out the "left up ahead" and "right at the intersection" but the GPS doesn't tell you which lane to get into to get that accomplished.[/QUOTE]
Yes it does.
[QUOTE=DrLuke;34778323][img]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qEYM4p2Oy8/SdwMceSZiQI/AAAAAAAACOk/zU5FCRborgw/s400/panic+button.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]
I don't want a button, I want a lever. A physical movement that physically disconnects the computer from the controls. I want to [I]know[/I] that this thing isn't gonna decide I'm not driving the way it wants and "help".
The car should expect to take up a job so that it can pay for it's own insurance.
I will buy one of these the first chance I get.
I get sleepy way too easily when I drive so this would be helpful to me and many other of these people like me.
But thats taking away all the fun!
Driving an automatic gearbox is already boring enough, driving a car that drives itself is even worse. AND a Prius to add to the whole nightmare!
I wouldn't mind self-driving cars, Crashes would go down, especially drunk driving crashes.
[QUOTE=Dah-thla;34779833]I wouldn't mind self-driving cars, Crashes would go down, especially drunk driving crashes.[/QUOTE]
I didn't even think about that honestly, that's a really good benefit to them.
[editline]19th February 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=dass;34779786]But thats taking away all the fun!
Driving an automatic gearbox is already boring enough, driving a car that drives itself is even worse. AND a Prius to add to the whole nightmare![/QUOTE]
You don't HAVE to have it drive automatically, just flip it off. It's just like a car with both automatic and manual transmissions, on days when you're feeling lazy and just want to go somewhere, turn on automatic, when you actually feel like driving, just turn on manual, it's the same prinicple.
If these can drive themselves then auto bomb delivery?
First time I've heard my state in the news for something worth while in... ever?
I read an article on Google's self-driving cars in Wired. Seems really neat.
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