Google’s driverless car now safer than the average driver

Google announced Tuesday that its self-driving cars have now completed 300,000 miles of test-drives, under a wide range of conditions without a single accident.

Does this really mean that the robotic car is safer than the average driver?

On average a U.S driver will have one accidently every 165,000 miles travelled with Google having almost doubling this figure without a single accident and the figure still rising.

The Google project has been done using the Toyota Prius equipped with a range of cameras, radar sensors, laser range finders (to be able to see traffic) and advanced Google maps software to navigate the cars journey.

Two human drivers until this time have been required to be in the cars at all times, ready to take control if there are any malfunctions but Google are now saying it will now start using one human per car.

They have also said that they are adding a Lexus RX450h to its fleet alongside the Prius (which you can see above).

The project team has said that the robotic cars have driven from the Googleplex in Silicon Valley to Santa Monica in LA, across the Golden Gate Bridge, travelled down the Pacific Coast Highway and around Lake Tahoe and that was back in 2010.

The 300,000 miles is a great milestone for Google’s self driving car and brings us closer to the day that we will all be able to sit back and relax during all our commutes. However Google has admitted that they still have a long way to go.

Chris Urmson, the driverless car team’s Engineering Lead has said that they still have to master snow-covered roads, understand temporary road/construction signals and handle other tricky situations that many drivers encounter.

However the day draws nearer and nearer that we will all have our very own self driving car.

By Troy Stanley
Technical Director