Once again Google has entered a new field of technology and this time it involves cars. Recently, the Google Company has developed cars that are able to drive themselves in traffic. While this is only the testing stage, each car is run and operated while there are two humans present. One person sits in the driver seat to take control of the wheel in an emergency and an engineer sits in the passenger seat to monitor the car’s software on a computer. Google’s reasoning for creating a self-sustaining car is to limit the amount of accidents, believing that technology could half the number of automobile-related deaths, and to increase human productivity. Without having to drive that hour to work in the morning, that gives an hour of free time for talking on the phone, leisure, sleep, or using any one of the Google products. Google states that computers are supposedly better than human drivers in certain circumstances. To what extent does Google think computers can run the world that we live in?

Before entering college there was very few reasons why I used Google. It was mostly for the search engine and sometimes for the maps and images. Now, as a college sophomore I have learned that Google is used for a word processor, it can contain my health records, it can type in words for me with Google Instant, and it can now drive my car for me. In Google’s testing of the driver-less car, there was only one accident that occurred, and that was a rear-end at a red light, an accident which a human caused. While hearing this information it would be hard for someone to argue against the computer over the human, but I believe it is a necessary to do so. Safety is the number one reason for why I question Google’s newest software testing. Although they claim they can control a car perfectly, I have never been in a car accident in my three years of driving. I do not doubt my ability to drive effectively, but I do doubt the reliability in computers and know that they do breakdown. Google states that the vehicles have instant reaction time and 360-degree awareness, which would allow for less traffic congestion. The one concept that Google seems to be forgetting about is the acceptance of human’s to utilize this software. Until everyone is in a driver-less car, which optimistically thinking would not be around until eight years from now, then safety will always be an issue.

One of my favorite leisure things to do is drive my car. In this technology-crazed world, it feels good to control a vehicle and go fast. Google is trying take away this leisure, by saying it is in my best interest to have a computer manufactured by scientists to act for me. What about emergency situations though, these Google cars have only been testing in traffic congested areas, but what about in back roads and during inclement weather. Will the computers always work even if they are going through a tunnel or over a mountain, or will you have to switch to a manual control option? What would happen in the scenario of an animal crossing in front of my car, would the computer know to swerve left or right or does it just keep going straight? Am I supposed to trust my own life to a computer? There are too many questions to ask about a computer running a car. While we have tools like autopilot to help aid transportation, there is still a person present while this application is being used. Google has many more tests to run before anyone knows if a driver-less car can be trusted. In driving sometimes the right decisions are not the best decisions. In my experience, a human judgment call has been the only thing I have known and it has worked out for me. Google as a source to find information is one thing I trust 100 %, but to trust Google with my life, I am not so sure about yet.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/10/11/google.testing.cars.mashable/index.html