For those who love driving, the future looks more and more bleak. Yesterday, Google gave its followers an update on its self-driving vehicles.
According to its official blog, their autonomous vehicles have logged over 700,000 miles (1,100,000 kilometres) so far. The video posted below shows some of the incredible advances that have been made which now allows the vehicles to operate safely in complex urban environments. For example, the onboard computers and sensors can now detect hand signals from cyclists and construction cones.
Right now the vehicles appear to operate only on predetermined routes with very high levels of map detail. However, the team plans expand their routes and have their vehicles operate throughout the city of Mountain View by summer’s end.
They understand that mastering the streets in a mid-size town of 74,000 is no small feat, but they still have a long way to go before autonomous cars can handle more tricky traffic scenarios typically seen in major metropolitan cities.
So until then, drivers like those in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (see below) will still need to rely on their quick reflexes and gusty driving techniques to conquer local traffic conditions.