(PCM) The notion of self-driving cars is one that has been on the minds of car manufacturing engineers for quite a long time. We have always heard news that this type of technology was in the final stages for mass production and that we would see these types of vehicles in the very near future, however nothing has really come out it until now.
Google’s full self-driving cars will finally be hitting public roads for official test drives this summer. If you happen to live near the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, California then you could become on of the very first people to see this kind of technology in action.
The cars are said to move at a speed of no higher than 25 miles per hour and all the test drives will be supervised by a human driver, who has the ability to take over immediately if necessary. The self-driving cars have a design that allows them to work with out needed a steering wheel or gas and brake pedals. Due to California State Law, however the cars must come with a detachable steering wheel and pedals just in case a human would need to take over operation of the vehicle at any time.
Google has made the self-driving cars from scratch by experimenting and expanding upon the software used by engineers for Lexus and Audi, who have revealed plans for similar model cars. It is Google’s plan to have these cars fully operational and mass produced for consumers by the end of the decade.