How To Spot A Self Driving Car

Astounde covered a story in February about how Google, along with Audi, BMW and others are deep into testing of a car that not only parks itself, but drives itself. Advancements in GPS and motion sensing technology have made this dream a reality. News then came in late March that a man lacking 95% of his vision, “drove” a car for the first time in a long time. We now have a glimpse at what the official license plates of these vehicles will look like, and we can soon expect to see them cruising beside us on the interstate.

Nevada and Florida are the first two states to pass bills enabling self driving cars on their roads. Nevada became the first state to issue a license plate to one of these cars. The plate itself is designed to stand out, being red in color. It has the letters AU in the middle for the word autonomous and has an infinity symbol on the side. DMV Director Bruce Breslow described the design accordingly:

“I felt using the infinity symbol was the best way to represent the “car of the future.” The unique red plate will be easily recognized by the public and law enforcement and will be used only for licensed autonomous test vehicles. When there comes a time that vehicle manufactures market autonomous vehicles to the public, that infinity symbol will appear on a green license plate.”

Despite Google being the first company to be granted a license, it is expected that the flood gates are about to open for other competitors. The DMV said that “just about every manufacturer in Detroit is interested” in the technology, and who wouldn’t be! If you believe in the technology, accidents and drunk driving can be curbed, and the daily commute can become a productive part of the American day. A commercially available autonomous vehicle could be available as soon as 2017. It’s definitely a game-changer; how does the idea make you feel?

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