Google Car Drives Itself

Google has developed a car that drives itself!

 As of October 2010, test cars had driven over 140,000 miles with only occasional human control.  This includes San Francisco's Lombard Street (which is one of the curviest and steepest streets in the U.S.).  There had been one accident reported with the vehicle, when it got rear-ended while stopped at a red light. 

While this car is years from mass production, it is still something to be excited about.  The engineers are saying that robots have a 360 view, do not get tired/distracted, and could save thousands of lives.  Also, with the decreased probability of car crashes, cars could be built lighter and more fuel efficient.

The car is rigged with GPS and sensors as well as access to all speed limits, etc. 

There are of course a few drawbacks with this car as well.  Currently, the law requires that a human operate a vehicle, so until the law is changes this type of vehicle could not be used.  Also, in the event that an accident were to occur, who would be liable?  The person behind the wheel or the car manufacturer?  Also, I think that if the car were to get into an accident, it would be a very big deal/lawsuit. 

So while this is still somewhat a car of the future, it is still pretty neat to see where things might be headed.  I am not sure that people will ever really feel comfortable enough to put their lives in the hands of a robot car, but perhaps someday.