Bill signed to give driverless cars the go ahead

Date: 1/10/2012

A bill has been signed at the Google headquarters in California, which could see driverless cars on the road within a decade.

Jerry Brown, State Governor, signed the bill, which will allow Google to press ahead with the 12 vehicles it has been testing with autonomous computer controls.

He said: "Today we're looking at science-fiction becoming tomorrow's reality."

Google has been working on the project for a number of years and its founder, Sergey Brin, believes that self-driving cars would be safer than those operated by humans.

It is not the only organisation which has been looking to bring the technology to the masses however, as Volvo, Ford and Audi have all been working on similar projects.

A combination of sensors, location tracking and on-board computing power is engaged in order to control the car and keep the vehicle on a safe trajectory.

In signing the bill, Governor Brown was helping establish rules to regulate the testing of the vehicles on roads across the state of California.

Now it will be up to the California Department of Motor Vehicles to draft the regulations, which are expected to be finished by 2015.

Under the bill, there is still a requirement for a licensed driver to be present behind the wheel in case he is needed to intervene and take charge in an emergency.

Google says that 300,000 miles have been completed by its fleet of self driving cars without an accident occurring.

One of the cars was involved in a minor crash last year, but was being driven by a person at the time, the company added.

Mr Brin said: "I think the self-driving car can really dramatically improve the quality of life for everyone."

He went on to say that he envisaged driverless cars being made available to buy within the next ten years.

Governor Brown said: "Anyone who gets inside a car and finds out the car is driving will be a little skittish. But they'll get over it."

Posted by Sarah Bailey

Transport Research News and Vehicle Safety News