California Legalizes Self Driving Cars 508
Hugh Pickens writes writes "The Seattle PI reports that California has become the third state to explicitly legalize driverless vehicles, setting the stage for computers to take the wheel along the state's highways and roads ... 'Today we're looking at science fiction becoming tomorrow's reality,' said Gov. Brown. 'This self-driving car is another step forward in this long, march of California pioneering the future and leading not just the country, but the whole world.' The law immediately allows for testing of the vehicles on public roadways, so long as properly licensed drivers are seated at the wheel and able to take over. It also lays out a roadmap for manufacturers to seek permits from the DMV to build and sell driverless cars to consumers. Bryant Walker Smith, a fellow at Stanford's Center for Automotive Research points to a statistical basis for safety that the DMV might consider as it begins to develop standards: 'Google's cars would need to drive themselves (by themselves) more than 725,000 representative miles without incident for us to say with 99 percent confidence that they crash less frequently than conventional cars. If we look only at fatal crashes, this minimum skyrockets to 300 million miles. To my knowledge, Google has yet to reach these milestones.'"
CA Freeways (Score:4, Funny)
Having lived in CA and driven on the freeways, I can say that you don't need "self driving" cars for the freeways.
All you need is a car that can self park and you are good to go...or...not go.
Re:CA Freeways (Score:5, Funny)
Ahhh The Future Belongs To The Machines (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Numbers, The Law, Reality of Attention (Score:2, Funny)
punctuated by moments of being deathly afraid of scissors?
Re:Must past this test (Score:5, Funny)
Why would a self driving car ever drive off a cliff?
I don't know, maybe life wasn't what it expected it to be?
Re:Must past this test (Score:5, Funny)
"upset at my wife" AND "in a hurry to get home"????
This just proves how unreasonable human drivers can be.
Re:Must past this test (Score:5, Funny)
Odds are cliffs do not move often and any automated car will have access to maps with topo data.
Given the last directions I got from Google Maps concluded with 'now drive through the barrier at the side of the highway and fall forty feet into the parking lot of the hotel below you', that does not give me warm fuzzies.
Re:Must past this test (Score:5, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)