Look, no hands. It's the self-driving car

DRIVERS in the US state of Nevada could soon be sharing the road with vehicles that do not need them.

The state's Department of Motor Vehicles has announced it has issued Google with the nation's first licence to test self-driving cars on public streets.

The department, which has demonstrated the car, said it was safe, or perhaps safer, than a human-driven vehicle.

For one thing, the engineers had programmed the car to create a "virtual buffer zone" around obstacles - making it more aware than some drivers about their surroundings.

Department director Bruce Breslow said: "It gets honked at  more often because it's being safe."


Self-driving vehicle technology works like auto-pilot to guide a car - in this case a modified Prius - with little or no intervention from a human operator.

Laser radar, mounted on the roof and in the grille, detects pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles, creating a virtual buffer zone around the obstacles that the car then avoids.

Before envisaging the robotic car dropping off its operator at the front of the mall and hunting for a parking spot on its own, be aware that Nevada's regulations currently require two people in the test cars at all times.

If there's a glitch, the human driver can override the autonomous auto with a tap on the brake or a hand on the steer- ing wheel.

Last summer, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval took the car for a spin in and around the state's quiet capital, Carson City. But Las Vegas Boulevard, where costumed superheroes routinely take the crosswalks and massive billboards angle for the attention of starry-eyed tourists, was perhaps best suited to test the car's main purpose.

"They're designed to avoid distracted driving," Mr Breslow said. "When you're on the Strip, and there's a huge truck with three scantily clad women on the side, the car only sees a box."

So far, Google's applied to license three test vehicles. Mr Breslow said the cars would display red plates and an infinity symbol to represent their status as vehicles of the future.

It is estimated it will take three to five years for the vehicles to be marketed.