Driverless cars now street legal

[Quicksand]

Interesting. Would you get into one, or send a family member off to work/school in one?

GET excited. The future is here.

Driverless cars are now street legal.

In California.

Google had been working with the Governer of California, Jerry Brown, to legally get its vehicles on the road.

Yesterday it became law.

Governor Brown signed a bill known as "SB1298" at Google's Mountain View headquarters which created "a legal framework and safety standards for autonomous vehicles on state roads and highways," Mashable reported.

Google co-founder, Sergey Brin said during a speech at its California headquarters - that self driving cars could "transform lives and communities - providing transportation to those not currently served, increasing safety on the road, reducing or eliminating congestion, and turning parking into parkland”.

Governer Brown added that the driverless cars demonstrated had turned "science fiction into tomorrow's reality".

Google has been testing its driverless cars for almost two years. The vehicles operate using sensors, computer navigation and radar. Rather than being the driver, the technology sees humans become the "back-up" option of last resort.

The cars have reportedly recorded more hours without accidents than the average US driver.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles (the US equivilent of the RTA) now has two years to figure out how to license the driverless cars.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers opposed the law because of concerns over whether carmakers would be held legally liable for cars that are made autonomous. Consumer groups also raised security concerns because the computers would be tracking the driverless cars' every movement.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/dr...#ixzz27Yh8YxLy