A First Drive
Fully autonomous driving has always been the goal of our project, because we think this could improve road safety and help lots of people who can't drive.
We're now developing prototypes of vehicles that have been designed from the ground up to drive themselves—just push a button and they'll take you where you want to go! We'll use these vehicles to test our software and learn what it will really take to bring this technology into the world.
Watch volunteers take a ride in Mountain View, California.
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Ever since we started the Google self-driving car project, we’ve been working toward the goal of vehicles that can shoulder the entire burden of driving. Just imagine: You can take a trip downtown at lunchtime without a 20-minute buffer to find parking. Seniors can keep their freedom even if they can’t keep their car keys. And drunk and distracted driving? History.
We’re now exploring what fully self-driving vehicles would look like by building some prototypes; they’ll be designed to operate safely and autonomously without requiring human intervention. They won’t have a steering wheel, accelerator pedal, or brake pedal… because they don’t need them. Our software and sensors do all the work. The vehicles will be very basic—we want to learn from them and adapt them as quickly as possible—but they will take you where you want to go at the push of a button. And that's an important step toward improving road safety and transforming mobility for millions of people.
A Ride in the Google Self Driving Car
Navigating City Streets
Behind the Google Self Driving Car Project
Every year 1.2 million people die worldwide in traffic-related incidents, and over 90% of those accidents are due to human error. The Google self-driving car team hopes to improve people's lives by developing fully self-driving technology that can improve road safety and make it easier for people to get around.
