self-driving

Self-driving cars: Yes, please! Now, please!

I love to drive. And yet, I cannot wait for self-driving cars. Question is: who will bring them to the masses first? And how soon?

I hear your comments right now: "I will never let a computer drive me to work, it's not safe!" "I'm a great driver, it's everyone else who is the problem." "But I love my BMW/Audi/Mercedes/Hyundai Genesis/Ferrari/Jetta Sportwagen too much to ever let the car do the driving!"

Let's try to separate the mind from the machine, because trust me: mainstream … Read more

CNET Roadside Assistance 034: Can cold weather freeze your car speakers? (podcast)

Can cold weather ruin your car speakers? More of your insights into self-driving cars, recommendations for cheap cars that are fun to drive, and our plans to review the VW GTI.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 34 SHOW NOTES

CNET Roadside Assistance 033: Your thoughts on self-driving cars (podcast)

This week, we check out your thoughts on self-driving cars, why humans can't drive well in the best of conditions, the ultimate car security system, and the price of diesel is tough all over.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 033 SHOW NOTES

Google's self-driving wreck: Really human error?

When a self-driving car crashes, one just has to wonder about those robots. Are they really all they're cracked up to be? Or might they be just as cracked as the rest of us?

Should you have, this morning, been unreasonably detained by aggressive machines, may I tell you that Google's famed, futuristic, liberating, and ultimately superhuman machine, the self-driving Prius, was involved in a fender bender.

What seems evident from shots of the scene is that Google's robot machine ran into the back of another Prius. You might think that it was on robotic autopilot and … Read more

Google good news: Nevada's yes to driverless cars

Those nice, but slightly odd, people at Google must feel rather put upon this week. Everyone seems to be after their blood (although the evidence as to whether they have any is still incomplete).

So, in the spirit of searching for some good news for the Googlies, I managed to find something that will uplift their robotic spirits.

The state of Nevada has, so Forbes tells me, passed a bill that requires its Department of Transportation to create rules and regulations for driverless cars.

You will be aware, unless you have been in an Estonian prison for the last couple … Read more

Google's self-driving car goes all Dale Earnhardt

Depending on your coefficient of control freakiness, Google's self-driving car is either extremely exciting or a novel enactment of the Nightmare on Elm Street.

So for this week's TED conference in Long Beach, Calif., Google decided to prove not only that its own technology can send a frisson into the frigid, but can also make a Prius feel like, well, at least a Mini.

In video captured by Search Engine Land, the Googlized Prius is seen racing around a rooftop parking lot, as if it was being chased by a very annoyed Javier Bardem.… Read more

Robot Cars Invade Calif., on Orders From Google

Google has been testing self-driving cars on roads in California, according to a report, and so far they've avoided everything but a minor fender bender--caused by a human-driven car.

The New York Times reports that seven test cars have traveled 1,000 miles without need for human intervention (a driver has been stationed behind the wheel just in case, accompanied by a technician to monitor the navigation system), and that they've covered more than 140,000 miles with the human chaperone stepping in only occasionally. One of the cars was even able to safely make its way down … Read more