Google announced that its self-driving car has now finished test drives through the streets of Mountain View, Calif., and is ready to face the traffic of a typical city avenue.
After completing thousands of miles driving through Mountain View's winding boulevards, the car is now ready to drive through everyday traffic situations, which include different challenges such as curbs, cyclists, pedestrians and traffic signals.
Although tests are going well for the self-driving car, officials confirmed that it will take years before a commercial release comes to fruition. The tech giant has to settle regulatory problems first, as well as conduct more rigorous and comprehensive tests.
"It's going to be many, many years before people trust those kinds of vehicles," research director for consumer technologies at analyst firm Gartner Brian Blau told Mercury News. "But without companies like Google investing in the research and science behind it, we'll never get there. You have to take baby steps before you can walk. And you have to learn to walk before you can run. They're still in the learning-to-walk phase."
But Google assured the public that the tests on the self-driving car are going well and are progressing in a speedy manner.
Chris Urmson, the project director of the self-driving car, told Mercury News that they have already developed software models to better control the car’s navigation. However, he admitted that there is still much work to do, which includes teaching the car to drive on Mountain View roads before taking the vehicle to another city.
California traffic officials stated that there haven't yet been reports of any accidents involving self-driving cars.
Paul Saffo, a Silicon Valley forecaster, considers this development as the future of driverless cars. But the tech expert did express worry that the car might be too expensive for the public.
