Google is releasing prototypes of its self-driving car on the roads of Mountain View, California this summer.
According to the announcement, the vehicle test runs will include safety drivers who can takeover driving if necessary, and speeds for the vehicles have been capped at 25-mph.
Google says this phase of testing will help them better understand how the community interacts with the self-driving cars, and identify challenges.
We’ve been running the vehicles through rigorous testing at our test facilities, and ensuring our software and sensors work as they’re supposed to on this new vehicle.
While the company has come under fire recently for wrecks involving the 48 self-driving Google cars currently licensed to operate on California roads, Google says the new prototypes have more than 10,000 miles a week worth of drive-time, which equates to approximately 75 years worth of typical American adult driving experience.
(Google responded to reports of its self-driving cars being involved in accidents, claiming none of the eleven wrecks cited were the fault of their vehicles.)
The announcement included the following video, interviewing key members of Google’s development team:
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