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A DRIVER has revealed why they will only use driverless cars from now on after a life-changing experience in a Waymo.
U.S. Sun staffer Ryan Cleary had just one minor issue with his ride in a driverless car.
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Waymo – owned by Google parent Alphabet – is a self-driving ride-hailing service currently operating in a handful of US states.
“I only want to use self-driving cars after taking a Waymo,” Ryan said.
“It was quiet, no driver bothered me with talking or their music choices.”
Ryan was also impressed with some of the other features offered by Waymo.
READ MORE ON SELF-DRIVING CARS
“It let me connect via Bluetooth so I could play my music,” he said.
“I was also super impressed with how it works. It has so many cameras and can even read the turn signals of cars 3 lanes away from us.”
Safety has been a concern for many critics of driverless cars.
US traffic safety regulators recently launched an investigation into the company, following a number of incidents and collisions with stationary objects.
But Ryan said that he wasn’t worried for his safety at any point during the journey.
It felt very safe and navigates the roads really well.”
He also felt the driverless software had some skill advantages over a human driver.
“I thought it knew how to shift lanes better than most drivers,” he added.
But that isn’t to say that he had no criticisms of the Waymo.
“It is perhaps too cautious,” Ryan admitted, before adding that the Waymo was still “a dream ride.”
He also felt happy about how the vehicle had been maintained before he got in – as well as the support offered.
“The car is nice and clean and support is just a tap away if you need it,” Ryan said.
How do autonomous cars work?
Autonomous cars use sensors, algorithms, machine learning systems, and powerful processors.
They can create and maintain a map of the area around them based on several sensors situated in different parts of the car.
Radar sensors are used to keep track of the positions of other cars.
Video cameras can detect traffic lights, read road signs, track other cars, and look out for pedestrians.
A sophisticated software processes all of this information and plots a path for the car to take, sending instructions to the car’s actuators, which control acceleration, braking, and steering.
Hard-coded rules and object recognition help the software follow traffic rules and avoid obstacles.
Source: Synopsys
Currently, Waymo only operates in three US cities – Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix.
But it plans to expand to other cities including Atlanta and Austin, where its vehicles will be available exclusively on the Uber app.
The company is testing different weather conditions to see how its vehicles could respond to trickier urban driving environments such as New York and Washington DC.
This week, the company announced it had raised $5.6 billion in funding to spread its robotaxis to other parts of the US.
It also hinted at future “business applications” for its driverless vehicle software.
This could mean it plans to expand into other services such as food and package deliveries, trucking, or even private vehicles.
