Google’s self-driving cars face next test: public roads

Google Inc. is ready to take the self- driving cars it designed onto public roads, another step in the company’s efforts to change the way people use vehicles.

The Internet-search giant plans to put a “few” of its small cars on roads in Mountain View, California, this summer, graduating from the test track, Chris Urmson, director of the self-driving project said Friday in a blog post. They will use safety drivers with the vehicles, which were first unveiled last year. Until now, Google has tested the technology using existing automobiles made by Toyota Motor Corp.

Google is stepping up investment in the project as it looks for new ways to spur the development of self-driving vehicles. The company has made 25 of the vehicles, which look like something out of a futuristic cartoon, and will roll them out a few at a time, Google said in an e-mail.

“We’re looking forward to learning how the community perceives and interacts with the vehicles, and to uncovering challenges that are unique to a fully self-driving vehicle – e.g., where it should stop if it can’t stop at its exact destination due to construction or congestion,” Urmson said.

The vehicles are capped at 25 miles per hour, and during the next phase of testing the drivers will have access to a removable steering wheel, accelerator pedal and brake pedal, which will let them take over if needed.

The company revealed earlier this week that the vehicles modified with the self-driving technology have been involved in 11 minor accidents in the six years they’ve been in testing – and that the cars were never to blame for the incidents. The majority of the collisions happened when the experimental autos were hit from behind, with some on the freeway and some at traffic lights.

This story was originally published May 15, 2015 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Google’s self-driving cars face next test: public roads."