“Fully Self-Driving Cars Are Here” – Waymo To Begin Testing Driver-Free Autonomous Taxis In Phoenix
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Nov 8, 2017
From here on out, if you see a car without a driver meandering around suburban Phoenix, don’t be alarmed: It’s just Google’s Waymo division testing its new driverless taxis – the first of their kind to be tested on US roads without the supervision of a “safety driver.”
Wayno has revealed that – effective immediately – it will begin testing the driverless taxis – referred to in technologist parlance as a “level 5” driverless vehicle – in Chandler, Arizona. Thew news represents an important milestone that establishes Waymo as the leader in automated driving technology. Waymo CEO John Krafcik made the announcement Tuesday during in a speech at a web summit in Lisbon, Portugal.
“We want the experience of traveling with Waymo to be routine, so you want to use our driver for your everyday needs,” John Krafcik, Waymo’s chief executive officer, said at the Web Summit conference in Portugal. “Fully self-driving cars are here.”
According to Ars Technica, for the last year, Waymo has offered free taxi rides to ordinary people who live near the Phoenix suburb of Chandler. Until recently, the company’s modified Chrysler Pacifica minivans had a Waymo employee in the driver’s seat ready to take control if the car malfunctioned.
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