It may look like the stuff of science-fiction, and sound like the stuff of science-fiction, but it’s soon to become science-fact.
California governor Jerry Brown backed legislation on Tuesday to bring driverless cars onto the roads of California.
A Google project, the company have been testing a fleet of 12 computer-controlled automatic vehicles for a while now. The bill – signed at Google HQ – will set up safety and performance regulations in order to ensure the new fleet of vehicles is safe. These need to be drafted by 2015.
Brown said:
[quote]Today we’re looking at science-fiction becoming tomorrow’s reality.[/quote]
Google’s Sergey Brin added that the new cars would be “far safer” than those driven by humans, and can “really dramatically improve the quality of life for everyone”.
Brown did add:
[quote]Anyone who gets inside a car and finds out the car is driving will be a little skittish.[/quote]