The Google Self-Driving Car has now driven more than two million fully-autonomous miles on public roads, according to a September 2016 report by Google. The first million miles took six years to drive, while the second took just 16 months.
Much of this time was spent on complex city streets rather than simpler environments such as highways. Cars are reported to have greatly improved at detecting and responding to events and elements on the road, from crossing guards and emergency vehicles to construction zones.
They are also able to confidently handle unusual scenarios such as, for example, seeing a rider on a horse in the middle of the road, or a car drive the wrong way down the road.
Test drivers have been providing feedback on the car’s movements to software engineers in order to improve the feel of the vehicle on the road.
October 18, 2016
