Google self-driving cars to be road-tested

Google has been given the go-ahead to test self-driving cars on American roads.

The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles has become the first to approve the cars, which could eventually ferry passengers and even drive on their own.

The state approved the laws in February, but today issued the first licences following successful tests on the Las Vegas strip.

Google’s 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 grill detects pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles, creating a virtual buffer zone around the obstacles that the car then avoids. Google’s existing mapping software is used to determine where the car should go.

The firm has already conducted tests around San Francisco, and claims the cars have driven over 200,000 miles. One even drove itself down Lombard Street, one of the steepest and curviest streets in the world.

The only accident, engineers said, was when one Google car was rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light.

According to the new rules passed in Nevada, Google’s hi-tech cars will have an insurance bond of $1 million and the firm must provide detailed outlines of where they plan to test it and under what conditions. The car must have two people in it at all times, with one behind the wheel who can take control of the vehicle if needed.

It must also display specially designed plates with a red background and infinity symbol.

"I felt using the infinity symbol was the best way to represent the ‘car of the future,’" Nevada DMV Director Bruce Breslow said in a statement.

"The unique red plate will be easily recognised by the public and law enforcement and will be used only for licensed autonomous test vehicles. When there comes a time that vehicle manufacturers market autonomous vehicles to the public, that infinity symbol will appear on a green license plate."

However, Breslow did admit to one problem the tests has shown up - the car attracted attention for being safer than a human driver.

"It gets honked at more often because it's being safe," he admitted.

The project is the brainchild of Sebastian Thrun, the 43-year-old director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, a Google engineer and the co-inventor of the Street View mapping service.