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Self-driving Cars – Find Out More

The decision to declare self-driving cars safe for the roads was long coming since such technology had not been incorporated in the regulator’s laws. This car first developed by Google has been declared safe for the road since it meets the safety standards for motor vehicles according to the federal authority. When these laws were being developed many years ago, nobody speculated that at some point advancement in technology will lead to such developments.

Some of the functions under federal transport authority include accelerator pedals and turn signal location. These self-driven vehicles are supposed to carry passengers but the driving is done by a computer. This is a strange concept to many people since we are used to controlling our cars while on the road. This sounds like a thrilling experience, imagine traveling in a car that is navigating its own way to your destination without your involvement.

Google’s Breakthrough

After this ruling in favor of the self-driven vehicles, Google is looking forward to a major breakthrough as the case has stalled their operations for a long time. They are now free to continue with this development that was first established in 2009. Their biggest hurdle which was the legal process has been cleared and this is a win not just for them but for other technology players too who might want to borrow the concept.

The National Highway transport and safety authority, however, has to come up with updated laws on how to protect other drivers on the roads. As a matter of fact, it will be a long time before the driverless cars are fully embraced and this means they will be sharing roads with other physical drivers. This expected to cause some commotion at least before it is fully developed and successfully tested on all roads.

Most vehicle manufacturers prefer introducing this concept in piecemeal. Semi-autonomous vehicles are already being developed all over the motor industry with plans under way to make the progress more aggressive. This means that they aim at incorporating the completely autonomous features within a few years. The partly autonomous vehicles need a driver to control while the end product is expected to get rid of a physical driver’s engagement. This is what Google’s Alphabet has been working on and fighting all the legal battles to get a breakthrough.

Testing Process

The testing process for the completely autonomous cars has been launched in Seattle city, this being the third place where this interesting technological advancement is tested. The decision made by the federal authority is a win to the entire motor industry since it has given them the go-ahead to delve deeper into technology.

In California State, however, the transport regulators are still adamant about having vehicles that are not controlled directly by humans on the roads. According to them, it is important to embrace this technology but incorporate a mechanism that will allow a driver to take over immediately in case of computer failure. This system they suggest should be automatic such that it gives warning when computer malfunction is detected and allows a designated driver to take over. The regulators in California State also feel they need more time to come up with special licenses for these vehicles and a way in which they can be told apart from normal cars while on the roads.

The transport regulators in California think that the federal authority made a hasty decision in giving a go ahead to Alphabet to continue the development of these vehicles. They feel such decisions should be delayed until all safety factors have been considered, especially because it is a completely new concept in the technology industry. According to their speculations, it is still too early to replace human involvement in the transport sector, citing it as a critical system. They claim that this move will lead to an increase in road accident injuries and fatalities.

Developers at Google are however optimistic alleging that they have put in place safety measures to curb accidents. In fact, they are requesting the federal authority to hasten the approval process and give them a leeway to put their technology into practical use. This they say will open up driving for people with special needs such as the old and disabled since their involvement will be greatly reduced.

The federal regulators, however, mentioned that it is now up to the developers to ensure their innovation is safe, asserting that they will be held responsible for a breach of the safety standards.