Google’s Self-Driving Car Gets a Nevada Driver’s License

What’s the Latest Development?

After working with Nevada’s Department of Motor Vehicles to develop regulations that govern autonomous vehicles, Google has been given an official driver’s licence to test its cars on the roads of Nevada. The regulations stipulate that at least two humans must be present in the vehicle to take control if necessary, an ironic rule given that human error was to blame for the only accident ever involving Google’s automated cars. If you are in Nevada, keep your eye out for a Toyota Prius with a red license plate that features a red-yellow-green infinity symbol.

What’s the Big Idea?

You will also identify self-driving cars as spectacularly annoying drivers, creeping along always just below the speed limit, automatically obeying every traffic law. According to Nevada’s DMV, “the cars get repeatedly honked at because they are the only ones being cautious.” To be sure, automatic cars promise to reduce the substantial number of traffic deaths, as the vast majority of accidents are a result of human error. The budding technology, already present in most new vehicles in some form, also promises to cut fuel use, saving you money and making the world a little greener. 

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