Sebastian Thrun, leader of Google’s driverless car project, talked about the technology of self-driven cars at TED Talks, claiming it could save one million lives each year if it would replace human driving.
Google’s test cars have so far covered over 140,000 miles (225,300 km) in all types of driving conditions without a single fault. “People didn’t even notice” Google’s cars were not driven by humans, said Thrun, who lost his best friend to a car accident when he was 18. The Stanford professor of computer science said that moment made him decide dedicating his life to saving one million people every year.
Apart from saving human lives, Thrun claims the technology could also lead to a more efficient and more rapid transport, with narrower lanes and syncronised traffic bringing an end to jams and fuel wasting. He hopes future generations “will look back at us and say how ridiculous it was that humans were driving cars.”
Scroll down to watch Google’s driver-less cars (Toyota Prius) in action and let us know if you look forward to a future when you will be driven by your cars, not the other way round.
By Dan Mihalascu
Source: Youtube / Tedtalks via Worldcarfans
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