[nabs-l] Google car takes to the streets

[Robert William Kingett]

Google's self-driven cars will soon be appearing on Nevada roads after 
the state's Department of Motor Vehicles approved on Monday the nation's 
first autonomous vehicle license.

The move came after officials rode along on drives on highways, in 
Carson City neighborhoods and along the famous Las Vegas Strip, the 
Nevada DMV said in a statement.

The Nevada legislature last year authorized self-driven cars for the 
state's roads, the first such law in the United States. That law went 
into effect on March 1, 2012.

Google's self-driven cars rely on video cameras, radar sensors, lasers, 
and a database of information collected from manually driven cars to 
help navigate, according to the company.

The DMV licensed a Toyota Prius that Google modified with its 
experimental driver-less technology, developed by Stanford professor and 
Google Vice President Sebastian Thrun.

Google's self-driving cars have crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and 
driven along the picturesque Pacific Coast Highway, according to the 
company.

Autonomous vehicles are the "car of the future," Nevada DMV director 
Bruce Breslow said in a statement. The state also has plans to 
eventually license autonomous vehicles owned by the members of the 
public, the DMV said.

Legislation to regulate autonomous cars is being considered in other 
states, including Google's home state of California.

"The vast majority of vehicle accidents are due to human error. Through 
the use of computers, sensors and other systems, an autonomous vehicle 
is capable of analyzing the driving environment more quickly and 
operating the vehicle more safely," California state Senator Alex 
Padilla said in March when he introduced that state's autonomous car 
legislation.

Other car companies are also seeking self-driven car licenses in Nevada, 
the DMV said.