Googles Driverless Car

The innovative thinkers of Google have not only developed but engineered a technology that could change the future of driving. Google has developed a car that can drive itself using intelligent driving software, proximity sensors, and GPS data.

Imagine being able to inform the car exactly where to go using a GPS system, then sitting back and enjoying the scenery waiting to arrive at your destination. The advanced sensory system allows the car to sense all of it's surroundings. It may even be said that this sensory system is more advanced than human perception. So could these cars be significantly safer than a human driving car? Sebastian Thrun, one of the many people who helped build Googles driverless car, seems to think so. The car can drive itself day or night, on

highways or narrow back roads, and even in back to back traffic. You can view Sebastian Thrun's promising outlook for the Google Car in his speech at TED: http://www.ted.com/talks/sebastian_thrun_google_s_driverless_car.html. 

It may seem as though the technology of this new car is cut and dry, but receiving it's full legalization is going to be a long journey. Google received it's U.S. license to test drive this new car from Nevada's DMV. This was made possible when the 2011 legislation in the state allowed the test driving of vehicles that were capable of piloting themselves. Google's self driving technologies have been put into 8 cars including the Audi TT, Lexus RX450h, and 6 Toyota Priuses. Don't worry, the car isn't all auto controlled. If the driver taps the break or turn the wheel, they are reverted back to manual controlling. So if you feel like the car may not be making the right decision, the option is available to do it yourself. 

People say that a human brain can never be as smart as a computer. Does the same hold true for this new technology? Could human perception never be as accurate as a self driven car? We use GPS to find our way around as it is, usually getting irritated about taking the wrong turn or driving miles in the wrong direction because we missed a direction or read them wrong. Having a car make these decisions for us could eliminate all the confusion. The car could sense the traffic ahead taking a different route whereas our human perception could only see the traffic as we pull into it. Imagine you are driving on a  back road at night and a deer jumps right out in front of you, our perception and reaction of this situation may lag and we may end up hitting the deer, either causing physical harm to us or our vehicle. We may not have our full attention on the road at this given time, we could be texting, talking on the phone, or changing the radio station. What if this same thing happened in the driverless car? The cars main focus is it's surroundings without any distraction. So, it would sense the deer right away stopping the car and potentially avoid a car accident. The same goes for surrounding cars on a road or highway. 

Does this car also give the blind the access to drive? Blind people have depended on others to drive them around for so long. Imagine if they could drive themselves from point A to B. Giving them back their independence and allowing them to do things on their own time. Steve Mahan, a blind man who has lost 95% of his vision, shows this is possible.

The Google Car can not only make driving safer for the population but also giving the blind and handicapped the freedom to drive again. This technology shows that it may be worth it to trust technology more than you trust yourself. Advancements in technology have saved the lives of millions of people, so why wouldn't we trust it to drive us?

http://techland.time.com/2012/05/08/googles-driverless-cars-now-officially-licensed-in-nevada/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdgQpa1pUUE
http://www.ted.com/talks/sebastian_thrun_google_s_driverless_car.html