Google Driverless (Self-Driving) Car

With Google and various automakers developing self-driving cars, it's generally acknowledged that it's just a matter of time before technology will take the wheel from humans to help reduce accidents, traffic, fuel consumption, emissions, and road rage. The move to autonomous cars would also have huge ramifications for with mobility limitations, including seniors and the sightless. And it will also change everything from how cars are sold to how they're insured–if people will even own cars anymore.

Giving up cars may seem far-fetched to most Americans. But according to some researchers, car ownership has peaked in the U.S. and the number of registered vehicles is on the decline. This is driven in part by two related trends.

Nextcar Bug artYoung people, especially the massive Millennial generation, are delaying getting their driver's licenses and also buying cars. And more Millennials as well as Baby Boomers are moving to urban areas where they don't need or want a car, since owning–or more specifically parking–a vehicle in a city is expensive and public transportation is readily available.

This all fits well with Google's view of the future of vehicular transportation, and with the unveiling of its self-driving prototype car last month. Google's radical autonomous ride doesn't have a steering wheel or brake and gas pedals because it's designed as a robo-taxi that picks up people and takes them where they want to go.

Google cofounder Sergey Brin confirmed this outlook in a recent "fireside chat" with Larry Page at Khosla Ventures (video below). "I hope that [self-driving cars] could really transform transportation around the world, and reduce the need for individual car ownership, the need for parking, road congestion, and so forth," Brin said. He went on to characterize car ownership as inefficient. "With self-driving cars, you don't really need much in the way of parking, because you don't need one car per person," he said. "They just come and get you when you need them."

Some Obstacles In the Road
Of course, Google's plan to alter transportation by transforming driving and car ownership will first have to get past several significant roadblocks, one of which is government regulation. And Brin acknowledged in the recent chat that government doesn't always keep pace with technology–or even fully comprehend it. "I do worry that when I look at the government…that it becomes pretty illogical," Brin said.

OpinionsTo help overcome this obstacle, Google has stepped up its lobbying efforts to promote self-driving legislation at the federal and state level. And the company hired Washington insider Ron Medford, the former deputy administrator of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, as the director of safety for its self-driving car division.

Most experts on self-driving technology agree that, in addition to government regulation and legal issues, another major hurdle for autonomous cars is consumer acceptance. So Google will also have to convince the public to not only give up driving, but their cars as well. And it's likely betting that the time is right, given societal trends and the decline in driving–and that major metropolitan areas around the world will only get more crowded and traffic will only get worse.

But this transition won't be easy or pervasive, especially in a country like the U.S., with its wide open spaces and lack of public transportation–particularly out west. But if Sergey Brin's vision comes true, the traditional car ownership model could change. And some believe it's already begun.

Are you ready to go carless, maybe in exchange for a free ride in a Google self-driving car? Let us know in the comments below.