Google’s self-driving cars can ‘exceed the speed limit to aid safety’

According to Google's lead software engineer, Dmitri Dolgov, the company’s self-driving cars are programmed to stay within the speed limit, mostly. Research shows that sticking to the speed limit when other cars are going much faster actually can be dangerous, Dolgov says, so its autonomous car can go up to 10 mph (16 kph) above the speed limit when traffic conditions warrant. Dolgov told Reuters during a test drive that when surrounding vehicles were breaking the speed limit, going more slowly could act
August 20, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

According to 1691 Google's lead software engineer, Dmitri Dolgov, the company’s self-driving cars are programmed to stay within the speed limit, mostly. Research shows that sticking to the speed limit when other cars are going much faster actually can be dangerous, Dolgov says, so its autonomous car can go up to 10 mph (16 kph) above the speed limit when traffic conditions warrant.

Dolgov told Reuters during a test drive that when surrounding vehicles were breaking the speed limit, going more slowly could actually present a danger, and the Google car would accelerate to keep up.

"Thousands and thousands of people are killed in car accidents every year," said Dmitri Dolgov, the project's boyish Russian-born lead software engineer, who now is a U.S. citizen, describing his sense of mission. "This could change that."

In July, the UK government announced measures that would give the green light for driverless cars to take to UK roads from January 2015. Ministers also launched a review to look at current road regulations to establish how the UK can remain at the forefront of driverless car technology and ensure there is an appropriate regime for testing driverless cars in the UK.

Commenting on Google self-drive cars' ability to exceed the speed limit, a 1837 Department for Transport spokesman said: "There are no plans to change speed limits, which will still apply to driverless cars."

European Traffic Police Network (650 TISPOL) director Pasi Kemppainen said: "From a UK perspective the Department for Transport has recently started a consultation on autonomous vehicles/telematics and TISPOL will feed into them the additional complications and challenges regarding legislation and enforcement. It is, of course, for Governments to legislate appropriately to cater for such situations, and for police officers to enforce the law."

In a separate development on Monday, the 324 US Department of Transportation's 834 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed equipping all cars and light trucks with technology that could prevent collisions.

Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • A global standard for enforcement systems – is it necessary?
    May 30, 2013
    Jason Barnes speaks to leading figures from the automated enforcement sector about whether a truly international standard for automated enforcement systems is necessary or can ever be achieved. Recent reports of further press controversy in the US over automated enforcement (see ‘Focusing on accuracy?’, ITS International raise again the issue of standards and what constitutes ‘good enough’ in terms of system accuracy and overall solution effectiveness. Comparatively, automated enforcement has always expe
    Read More
  • Low-costs solutions to improve pedestrian safety
    May 8, 2015
    David Crawford welcomes low-cost safety initiatives for pedestrians in America. Some 10 people die each week in accidents on crosswalks in the US, that’s more than 10% of all pedestrian fatalities in road traffic incidents - the number of which is running at a five-year high. Ensuring crosswalks are safe is key in supporting the growing enthusiasm for walking as a travel mode. In the last decade of the 20th century, numbers walking to work in the US fell by 26%; while, as recently as 2012, Americans were e
    Read More
  • Better enforcement needed to combat drivers using mobile phones says FTA
    February 8, 2016
    Responding to proposed changes to penalties on drivers using a hand-held mobile phone, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) has said that better enforcement is needed before penalties are increased. After consulting with members at its Road Freight Council Meeting in London yesterday, the FTA stated that the use of modern technology and cameras should be able to enable authorities to improve enforcement and provide evidence against those breaking the law. The recently launched consultation proc
    Read More
  • US transport chief: ‘Google car crash not a surprise’
    June 8, 2016
    In an interview with the BBC, US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx said: "Driverless technology presents a lot of potential for disruption on a number of fronts,” adding: "It's unclear to me now exactly how that future unfolds." Speaking during the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Texas, Secretary Foxx commented on the recent accident in California involving a Google autonomous car and a bus saying it “was not a surprise.
    Read More

Highlighted Content