Google announced today (May 15) that it test a few of its new Volkswagen Beetle-like prototype self-driving vehicles on roads in Mountain View, Calif. this summer Unlike Google’s previous prototype test vehicles, these will have safety drivers aboard, and with a steering wheel, accelerator pedal, and brake pedal if needed.

These vehicles are designed for local driving, with speed capped at 25mph.

Google said the new prototypes will “drive with the same software that our existing fleet of self-driving Lexus RX450h SUVs uses. That fleet has logged nearly a million autonomous miles on the roads since we started the project, and recently has been self-driving about 10,000 miles a week.

“When we started designing the world’s first fully self-driving vehicle, our goal was a vehicle that could shoulder the entire burden of driving,” according to the Google statement. “Vehicles that can take anyone from A to B at the push of a button could transform mobility for millions of people, whether by reducing the 94 percent of accidents caused by human error (PDF), reclaiming the billions of hours wasted in traffic, or bringing everyday destinations and new opportunities within reach of those who might otherwise be excluded by their inability to drive a car.”

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