Who Do I Scream at...

...when the driverless car cuts me off!!??

Anthony Levandowski, Google's autonomous car project manager, spoke to NADA Board of Directors at our summer board meeting in Napa, CA in June. He told us that Google is ready to team up with a major automobile manufacturer.

He told us that Google has tested the vehicle over 250,000 miles and there have been only two mishaps, both of which occurred when the vehicle was being driven manually! He think the next major hurdle will be convincing governments and consumers that autonomous cars are safer than having a human being in control.

Google claims that up to 90 percent of all crashes are caused by human error. Levandowski was motivated to start this project when his wife and son were in a severe car accident caused by driver error. He suggested that the technology could be on the market within three years and could be in wide use in 5-6 years.

Nevada passed a law in June 2011 concerning the operation of driverless cars in Nevada, which went into effect on March 1, 2012. It is speculated that Nevada was targeted as the first state because of the Las Vegas Auto Show.

Levandowski explained (in as simple a terms as possible!) that the car uses video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder to “see” other traffic, as well as detailed maps to navigate the road ahead. This is all made possible by Google’s data centers, which can process the enormous amounts of information gathered by our cars when mapping their terrain. The process is explained deeper here.

When asked why a Toyota Prius was used as the prototype, Levandowski suggested that was what they had. The technology is compatible with any make and brand. Google is not interested in marketing vehicles, he said, only bringing the technology to the marketplace.

The emotions in the room as Levandowski made his presentation were very interesting, ranging from heads shaking in disbelief, obvious skepticism at the whole notion of a driverless vehicle and relief when he suggested that Google was not interested in selling vehicles. After feeling each of these emotions and more, I settled at excitement.

It is exciting to see the technology advance and it is very exciting to think we can help make our nation's highways safer. After the presentation, he invited us outside where he had the vehicle. I got the two photos above with my phone.