Google’s (Self) Driving Record
About six years ago Google started working on what many considered to be completely impossible at the time. Creating a car that drives itself and is not only safe but economical and comfortable as well, posed an incredible amount of challenge. Luckily for us, Google takes these types of new ideas and approaches them head-on until they produce something truly incredible.
The constant innovation of Google is globally important and impactful. Their self-driving car is yet another one of these profound ideas. Learn the ways in which Google actually works, and you can start to understand how driverless technology is a real thing; definitely not some work of science fiction.
Lately there has been a lot of buzz about these alternative vehicles. Primarily due to eleven confirmed auto accidents involving self-driving cars. The thing is, these accidents all only faced minor damages, there were no injuries incurred, and due to human error. Auto accidents were due to, you guessed it, human error!
Oh, how thick the irony is: a car already so streamlined with automation that it’s considerably safer driving itself.
Interestingly enough, more statistics favor Google’s technology over humans own abilities. Google’s cars have been tested on over 1.7 million miles of roadway and about a million of these miles were fully automated. A Google powered Audi SUV drove itself from coast to coast with extremely minimal human control. What was once considered impossible, is clearly possible.
Just about 90% of Americans commute by car. Although the Google self-driving model is obviously still a car, it is much more attainable by those who find driving to be a challenge. There are high insurance and maintenance costs associated with owning a car. Beyond that, a basic fact of life is that human error occurs, all the time. Getting in an auto accident can drastically affect a person, even if they have insurance. Not everyone can afford full coverage insurance. The small amount of human error that it takes to cause a wreck can inhibit your happiness a great deal, that’s for sure.
Furthermore, what does this say in regards to the philosophy of commuting? Well, this whole self-driving automobile idea is a real game changer.
Think about all of those with disabilities that don’t allow them to drive. Those with epilepsy, narcolepsy, paralysis, blindness and other conditions that impair driving, would all be able to commute independently and gain a great amount of freedom. Driverless technology actually challenges the overall mindsets of what is possible and bridges the gap of science fiction into reality.
And that is just scratching the surface.
The number of drunk drivers on the road will greatly fall when self-driving cars hit the mainstream. This might be bad news for taxi drivers, but realistically this could actually save thousands of lives a year by becoming accessible to the ‘downtown demographic.’ There were about 33,000 recorded traffic fatalities in America in 2013. Human error in numerous ways accounts for the majority of these deaths.
Google is taking an pretty extreme route with their visionary driving technology, but in the best possible direction. Simply put, this is going to change the world. In fact, it already is changing the world. As this becomes the societal norm, commuting without having to actually drive will benefit a massive chunk of the population. Google will challenge current driver safety standards by replacing human error with quite literally, a well-oiled systematic approach.