{"id":77095,"date":"2014-06-03T08:55:24","date_gmt":"2014-06-03T12:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=77095"},"modified":"2014-06-03T08:55:24","modified_gmt":"2014-06-03T12:55:24","slug":"self-driving-vehicles-face-plenty-of-obstacles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2014\/06\/self-driving-vehicles-face-plenty-of-obstacles\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-Driving Vehicles Face Plenty of Obstacles"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A production version of Google's autonomous vehicle prototype could be on the road by 2020 - maybe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Google has announced plans to build 100 autonomous vehicles, with a goal of getting the technology into production by 2020, about the same time Nissan hopes to have its own self-driving cars on the road.<\/p>\n

But not everyone is so upbeat, and some experts caution it could take another two decades before such vehicles can overcome the cultural and technical challenges that loom ahead for autonomous motoring.<\/p>\n

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Beyond the Headlines!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Art Wheaton, an automotive industry expert and senior lecturer at Cornell University, said the announcement by Google for their autonomous vehicle may be \u201ca trend for the near future,” but he cautioned that \u201cI highly doubt individual car owners will give up their freedom to drive anywhere, anytime for the Google car.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the first Google prototypes will be equipped with conventional controls, the rest are expected to have nothing more than on\/off switches, meaning there would be no way for a human to take control. And that is something Wheaton questions whether today\u2019s motorists would accept \u2013 except under limited circumstances.<\/p>\n

(<\/em>Click Here<\/span><\/a> to find out more about the Google self-driving prototypes.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt could be used in California for dedicated HOV lanes,\u201d he suggested. \u201cThe success of the Prius in the United States owes a great debt to California HOV lane preferential treatment. People may pay for the convenience of a shorter commute and own two vehicles in the family. One for commuting and the other for family or pleasure travel,\u201d Wheaton said.<\/p>\n

But while it remains to be seen just how soon the first fully autonomous vehicles will go into production, there\u2019s little doubt some of the same basic technologies are showing up in more conventional vehicles.<\/p>\n