Google driverless car

Google has come up with technology that combines information gathered from Google Street View (an add on to Google maps) and artificial intelligence.

It uses video cameras inside the car, a LIDAR sensor on top of the vehicle, radar sensors on the front of the vehicle and a position sensor attached to one of the rear wheels that helps locate the car's position on the map as the sensory input required to drive. It uses the help of software to process and finally calculate the necessary instructions required to actually drive the car.

Google driverless car operating on a testing path

The speed limit is obtained from the information it has stored on its maps like the present day gramin GPS devices. But there is also a system in place to override the automatic commands manually that allows a human driver to take control of the car by stepping on the brake or turning the wheel, similar to cruise control systems already in cars!
A Toyota Prius modified with Google's experimental driverless technology was licensed by the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in May 2012. This was the first license issue in the United States for a self-driven car.

So far the only reported accidents these cars were involved in were made by made by humans.

Today CNN reports that the car is nearer to being used on roads in California:

Gov. Edmund "Jerry" Brown signed the autonomous-vehicles bill into law Tuesday afternoon alongside Google co-founder Sergey Brin and State Sen. Alex Padilla, who authored the bill, at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California. The bill, SB 1298, will set up procedures and requirements for determining when the cars are road-ready.

Such cars will help reduce reduce the number of traffic-related injuries and deaths, while at the same time using energy and space on roadways more efficiently. But for me personally, this can help people with disabilities like vision problems to lead more independent and fulfilling lives!

Have a look at this video to see the car in action.