Google has been making some extraordinary developments in the past months. It has undoubtedly worked very hard to find a foot in the field of unusual vehicles. We are referring to the company’s dream self-driving car. It is truly a sight to behold. Sadly, even if the vehicle sounds extraordinary, the California Department of Motor Vehicles doesn’t seem to agree.
Reports say that the Department of Motor Vehicles demands the automobile to have certain features which allow the driver to take control of it is needed. Google’s plan was to make the self-driving vehicle completely autonomous. Google has already invested a lot of time and money into this project, and it was almost on the verge of completing it, but it might have to make some last-minute changes to the model.
The project for the self-driving car was unveiled earlier this year, in May. The car replaces the driver with incredibly smart software and a steering wheel with buttons. Granted, it may look a bit bizarre (the face is similar to a smiley face), but it seems to get the job down. The intervention of the California Department of Motor Vehicles may shatter Google’s dream of creating a completely independent, driverless car.
Nevertheless, the company has acknowledged the command of the California Department of Motor vehicles and it is planning on adding additional features that will help it pass the test. Google will also start testing the vehicle on private roads very soon, and it is planning on selling the model to customers in the near future. Granted, of course, that it completes the necessary requirements and is approve by the department of Motor vehicles.
Sergey Brin, the co-founder, says that the biggest motivation behind the self-driving car is creating safer roads for drivers and other vehicles. He believes that Google’s self-driving car, with its explicit record of “zero” crashes during the testing phase, will ensure that roads become safer.
On the other hand, it is understandable why the Department of Motor Vehicles doesn’t want to see driverless cars on the streets. They believe that humans should be driving cars, not computers. Google is willing to make a compromise, and it will most probably install a feature that enables the driver to take control of the wheel if he so desires. Alternatively, he can let the autopilot take care of the rest. It is also rumored that cars will communicate with each-other through special signals, to make sure that they don’t hit one-another.
