Internet giant Google is now road-testing cars that are able to steer without a human driving them, the company has said in a new blog post.
The cars have travelled over 140,000 miles without any human intervention, the company has said, with the goal to “help prevent traffic accidents, free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions”.
Project leader Sebastian Thrun wrote in the blog post the software is being designed in order to make the driving process safer. A separate New York Times report claims that engineers say the cars are able to react more quickly than humans.
However, he also warns the cars are never unmanned and a backup driver is available at all times. The software is being developed by former DARPA scientists.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
