Though there may be plenty of hurdles when it comes to getting self-driving cars on the road in large numbers, Google has gotten one step closer to its goal of replacing every human on Earth with machines (I think that's what "Don't Be Evil" meant). Through an analysis of reams of data, they've proven that their autonomibiles are smoother and safer than the average driver.
Chris Urmson, the leader of Google's self-driving car project, said that analysis of the data logged from hundreds of thousands of self-driven miles showed that the robo-cars not only maintained a safer following distance behind cars in front, but that the computer brains also accelerated and came to a halt much more smoothly than the tech giant's professional drivers, according to the MIT Technology Review:
“We’re spending less time in near-collision states,” said Urmson. “Our car is driving more smoothly and more safely than our trained professional drivers.”
Urmson didn't break down how the cars do in adverse weather conditions, such as snow or heavy rain, but it might be a safe bet to say that the technology is improving rapidly.
As sad as it is to say it, we'll probably get to a point where a computer is faster around a race track than a human, if we're not there already. You might just hear your kids say "yeah, Senna was great, but my new iPhone 27S is better."
It looks like our robot overlords are coming faster than we ever expected.
Photo credit: Roman Boed