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Google teams up to develop self-driving car

The technology company giant Google, Uber and Lyft will team up with Ford and Volvo to develop a self-driving car for Safer Streets. The powerhouse alliance has come together  with the express purpose of advocating autonomous driving.

David Strickland, former administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will head up this project, in addition to serving as the group’s counselor and spokesperson.

As seen above, Google’s self-driving car protoype. It’s not news that a number of different companies have been working to develop self-driving cars. yet the race has just got heavier. Credit: InHabitat

Strickland stated that the self-driving vehicle technology will make America’s roadways safer and less congested.

“The best path for this innovation is to have one clear set of federal standards, and the Coalition will work with policymakers to find the right solutions that will facilitate the deployment of self-driving vehicles,” Strickland added.

Lyft and Uber want to own a fleet of self-driving cars that would eliminate the financial and logistical need for human drivers. While our well-known automakers Volvo and Ford are focused on promoting autonomy for safety reasons.

However, the tech and ride-hailing companies have a slightly different agenda than its competitor. However, this doesn’t seem like a huge problem at all.

Every company has made their own advances on this topic, preparing for a competitor’s market. Google for example, has been the most likely to test self-driving technology.  With dozens of self-driving Lexus SUVs and Google-designed prototypes Google was able to test a million miles of autonomous driving in three cities nationwide.

Ford has been testing its own technology on its campus at Dearborn, Michigan.  While Uber in the other hand, is building its own research facility devoted to self-driving cars in Pittsburgh.

Notably, Lyft recently teamed up with General Motors – which is noticeably not a member of this coalition – to create a fleet of self-driving, for-hire vehicle, In addition,  Volvo announced its plan to test 100 autonomous vehicles in China.

Is it a human fault?

Actually, an estimated 94 percent of road accidents are caused by human error,with over 33,000 fatalities reported on roads last year alone in the United States. Self-driving cars will have the ability to significantly diminish the number of accidents caused by human mistakes. Still, there’s a long way to go in order to set the self-driving cars as default in society. Nevertheless, this breakthrough could come before than anticipated considering the major leaps in technology from automaker companies across the globe.

Source: Reuters

Categories: Technology
Adam Kreller:
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