Apple has over 50 self-driving cars on the road in California

May 19, 2018, 3:17 pm
Apple has over 50 self-driving cars on the road in California
The intake is accompanied by 83 drivers who will be testing the vehicles.At this stage, Apple(apple.com) hasn`t been authorized to test self-driving cars independent of human supervision; for that, the company will need to submit a separate permit to the DMV -- something Waymo did last month.The DMV also revealed that a second unnamed company had requested approval to start driverless testing, but hasn`t parted with any additional details.We do know that the autonomous car scene is heating up -- Tesla and Drive.Ai are lagging behind Apple, but fellow California-native GM Cruise leads the pack with 104 vehicles with self-driving capacity.Still, one of the biggest issues inherent to automated technology is safety.The recent fatal accident involving one of Uber`s self-driving prototypes -- apparently due to misaligned software -- couldn`t be stopped by the test driver in time.
Apple has more than doubled the number of its self-driving cars, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has confirmed.Since obtaining a permit to test autonomous vehicles, Apple`s fleet size has steadily risen -- from a scant three test cars, to 27 in Jan., and now, 55 intelligent machines.Should the program remain on course, consumers could be chilling out in the driver`s seat by 2019.
This indicates a margin of error that`s worth considering before rushing into fully self-driving trials; before the public may accept autonomous cars as a reliable alternative, companies need to gain its trust.There`s always a risk of mechanical failure, and human error can`t be ignored, either.but if companies identified problems and developed adequate prevention measures in advance, the number of accidents could knowledge a remarkable drop.That might push back
releaseAnnounce
schedules, but autonomous safety should be top priority.
 
Sponsored links