Google is taking steps to significantly reduce the likelihood of crashes and auto accidents. How? The internet giant is applying its diverse skills to an entirely different medium; Google engineers are using their engineering and computing skills to design cars that drive themselves — and navigate roads even more safely than their human-manned counterparts. The self-driving cars have already logged at least 700,000 miles on rural highways, and engineers tested them on California’s congested city streets earlier this week.
Are Self-Driving Cars Really Safe?
With some fine-tuning, self-driving cars may actually be safer than traditional motor vehicles. “A self-driving vehicle can pay attention to all of these things in a way that a human physically can’t — and it never gets tired or distracted,” director of the Google project, Chris Urmson, writes. “As it turns out, what looks chaotic and random on a city street to the human eye is actually fairly predictable to a computer.” New software enables Google’s automated cars to recognize crossing guards, signals from bicyclists, buses stopping, pedestrians crossing the street, and more.
Engineers are still working out some kinks, however. Developers are working on the vehicles’ capabilities to turn right on red, merge, change lanes, and drive in extreme weather conditions.
Do Automated Cars Ever Crash?
It is possible. “The only reported accidents have happened when one of the cars was being driven by a person, or they were the fault of another driver,” CNN reveals. Although the crashes were not caused by the self-driving cars, they still happened. What would personal injury lawyers and/or auto accident attorneys do in the event of a collision involving an automated vehicle?
Although injury attorneys are still working out the details, there are somethings that authorities and lawyers will definitely take into consideration. Authorities will determine if it was the fault of the other vehicle. If not, investigators will see if a human driver took control prior to the crash — and, if so, for how long.
Self-driving vehicles will significantly decrease the likelihood of deadly auto accidents. In the event of a crash, injury attorneys will carefully consider all details — including whether the computer failed and if a human ultimately took control of the car. Reference links: www.wtw-law.com