Nevada DMV grants first self-driving car testing license to Google
May 8, 2012 | Source: The Verge
Nevada, the first state to put in place rules and regulations for autonomous vehicles last February, has now moved on to the next step, approving the first testing license under the new rules, issued to Google.
Under the new laws, the self-driving car will be fitted with a special red license plate featuring an infinity symbol for easy recognition.
However, the vehicles require two passengers at all times, and the areas in which they can be driven is tightly regulated for the moment.
Comments (6)
by Jho
Place your bets. When will human drivers first be outlawed and where?
by Jeff
Why own a car? Taxis without human drivers would be much less expensive. I think bus drivers and truckers are on notice. Not much future in being a professional driver.
by John Doe
Gorden, don’t worry about the Arab consortium. You’re right about the parking spaces. It costs a lot of money to maintain such a huge amount of parking spaces to a city. You pay for their maintenance in your taxes. Developers pay for them in their land costs. There will be serious downward pressure from the public and private sectors for the abolition of a majority of parking moving into the next two decades. The problems here are also environmental. The amount of tarmac used for parking is screwing with our surface water runoff here in the UK.
If the average car spends approximately 95% of its time parked, then you can imagine how a socialised, decentralised transportation system based on “always active” driverless vehicles could relieve us of not only excessive land use wastage, but the associated environmental externalities. This would also free up land space in the UK to resolve our housing shortage.
Interesting times ahead for urban planners.
by Gorden Russell
The car might just drive around in circles all day until you get off work. That might be cheaper in Chicago. The city sold its parking meters to an arab consortium that has jacked the price of parking way up.
by Kristoph77
30 years from now we will look back at the automated car and realize it was the first step of the new non biological life that has the ability to navigate the world, make decisions, and accomplish tasks. I can think of many biological life forms in the insect kingdom that currently have that level sophistication.
by Singme
Two passengers required for now, but in a few years we may trust these machines to drive our kids around. Hope it is soon.
One of the best things about the self driving car is it could drop you off at your destination and then park itself. One of the biggest hassles in a city is finding a place to park, so this would be really nice!