While the general public is overwhelmingly excited about Google’s latest project, there have been some major concerns about the safety of these autonomous cars and the expected time of its public release. For starters, after two incidents with Self-Driving Cars and California’s most recent law to ban testing of Self-Driving Cars on public roads, many question the ability for Google to create a safe car without the ability to test it properly (16). In addition, Google’s mapping technology needs to take in the scene before it can drive. Therefore, in order for Self-Driving Cars to begin operation throughout the United States, the mapping system will have to take in over four million miles of public roads (16). In addition to mapping these roads in the first place, the ever changing traffic light placement and stop sign implementations make it seemingly impossible for Self-Driving Cars to keep up with these changes in the roads, which therefore increases the potential for running red lights and driving through construction zones (16). Finally, despite these mapping flaws, Self-Driving Cars have also been criticized for its inability to maneuver in parking lots, which, many drivers now expect from recent technology (16). And yet, despite these major pitfalls, Google’s Self-Driving Cars have excited the nation and the anticipation has begun for the day when the average commuter can legally read the newspaper and drive at the same time.
The Google Empire 