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Regulations governing Google’s experimental self-driving cars will come into effect on California’s roads starting 16 September. They have driven more than 1 million kilometers since the company started secretly developing them in 2009, but they have been tested only once by a government body on open roads—by Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) officials in May 2012. IEEE Spectrum has […]
Much has been made of smart cars’ potential to dramatically reduce the millions of automobile collisions that occur each year and the tens of thousands of fatalities that result from these crashes. But collision avoidance is only one of the benefits that giving cars bigger brains will yield. According to a report released on 28 August by the Intelligent Transportation Society […]
It looks like General Motors could be taking a big step to creating safer, semi-autonomous cars. Japanese manufacturer Takata, who supplies GM with safety parts, has inked a deal with Australian company Seeing Machines to create sensors that will detect distracted driving, according to a company news release. The deal is set to last for 15 years. […]
Companies like Tesla and Google have their eyes on self-driving cars. But while humans are still behind the wheel, General Motors is turning to eye-tracking, facial recognition tech to make the streets a bit safer. The Financial Times reports GM is planning to install machines in about half a million cars that will track drivers’ eye and head movements to […]
More than 30,000 Americans are killed in highway crashes each year, but experts believe that death toll could sink to zero as safety improvements continue and autonomous cars hit the road. A sign of that possibility will come with the release of a new study next month by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which […]
Google caused a stir earlier this year when it unveiled a self-driving car without a steering wheel or pedals for braking or accelerating. But Google’s goal of an autonomous car is bumping up against new testing rules from California’s Department of Motor Vehicles.
Drive on a city’s streets at night and you’re guided by artificial lights: glowing traffic signals beckoning you forward, the headlights of a car trailing you, a sign warning of work ahead. Artificial lights may soon guide your car, too: In the quest for cars that understand the world around them and respond intelligently, a […]
A combined forward collision and lane departure warning system available on the Honda Accord is reducing insurance claims, a new HLDI analysis shows. The results are even better than expected based on previous studies of such technology on luxury vehicles. In the first real-world study of a crash avoidance system on a high-volume, nonluxury vehicle, […]
Backup cameras have become ubiquitous on all varieties of cars– from the most affordable subcompacts to the priciest of exotics– but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration just issued a long-awaited ruling that will make the technology legally required on every sub-10,000 pound vehicle by May of 2018. “Safety is our highest priority,” U.S. Department […]