Google’s Self Driving Car Takes Blind Man For A Ride

Google’s self-driving car took legally blind man Steve Mahan for a ride through town, giving just one example of the many possibilities and benefits that could come from the technology.

Google’s self-driving car was first introduced in 2010 and ever since has been fascinating our minds with its technological promise.

Yesterday Google posted a video of the drive with Mahan. The self-driving car took Mahan on a carefully programmed route through the town (pre-planned with local police just to be safe). They made a quick stop through the local Taco Bell drive thru to grab a quick bite before stopping at the dry cleaners to pick up Mahan’s dry cleaning.

Mahan couldn’t help but exclaim:

“Look Ma, no hands! No hands, no feet.”

Steve reflecting on the drive and what it would mean for him:

“Where this would change my life is to give me the independence and the flexibility to go to the places I both want to go and need to go when I need to do those things.”

According to Google on their post:

“There’s much left to design and test, but we’ve now safely completed more than 200,000 miles of computer-led driving, gathering great experiences and an overwhelming number of enthusiastic supporters.”

Though much testing and engineering is still needed to be done for the technology to become a full-fledged reality, it’s well on its way to getting there. PCMag reported just last month that Nevada had become the first state to legalize self-driving cars.

Check out the video below.

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