Austin will be the new test site for Google’s fully self-driving cars

Google has chosen Austin to be its site for testing its first fully self-driving cars outside of California. The company has already made its footprints in Austin with the launch of Google Fiber, it's super-fast internet and TV connection. The company has been testing self-driving Lexus RX450h SUVs in the city for nearly two months.

Google made the announcement at a press conference at the Thinkery. Apart from the attendance of The Thinkery CEO Troy Livingston and Austin’s Mayor Steve Adler, a prototype of the car was displayed inside the Thinkery Children’s Museum, reports SiliconHills .

Earlier, in July, Google announced that it has selected Austin as the preferred location for testing its self-driven cars. Then, drivers accompanied the car prototypes for supervising the vehicles. Now, Google will test its first fully self-driving prototypes in Austin. The pod-like cars will be seen in the north and northeast of downtown in the coming weeks. Initially they will be driven with test drivers aboard.

The compact two-seater white car prototypes will soon be hitting the roads of Austin. These cars do not have a steering wheel, brake pedal or an accelerator. The Google Self-Driving Car Project is a joint venture of the company with Roush Industries. Google’s prototype car is designed to drive anyone, anywhere with few verbal instructions. The cars have all sorts of built-in safety features and can only go up to 25 miles per hour.

Chris Urmson, director of the Google Self-Driving Car Project , mentioned that the car is furnished with sensory technology which creates a security bubble around it. This allows the car to see its surroundings. Thus, the cars can handle animals coming out in the middle of the roads, as reported by The Dallas Morning News .

Mayor Steve Adler stated that Austin is the most preferred location for innovators and entrepreneurs, and as such, it provides the ideal community for testing Google’s first fully self-driving cars. He further hopes that the autonomous technology can provide a long term solution to Austin, a city with increasing number of traffic fatalities. Adler mentioned that the Google’s self-driving cars will bring transformation in transportation.

The developers and key backers of the project envision Google’s self-driving cars as a way to eliminate the possibilities of most of the tragic accidents in the U.S. Adler also hopes that within four years, these autonomous vehicles will be commercially available to citizens throughout the country.

Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au or let us know what you think below.