Nevada Legalizes Driverless Cars

You might not have to actually drive your car, but as the “driver” it will still be illegal to drink and drive.  At least for the moment in Nevada where computer-driven cars have been legalized. It is the first state in which people will be able to get into their cars and not actually have to drive them on public roads. Don’t expect to find a bunch of self-driving cars lined up at your car dealership though, but this is the sign of things to come. 

Currently, it is only Google that is marketing driverless cars. But it seems it is only a matter of time before other cars take the driver out of the mix.  Yet this concept is not quite ready to go to market.

“Driver” Benefits

So how, one may ask, does this benefit the driver if one still is not allowed to drink and drive?  According to one report in Geeky Gadgets texting apparently is legal, but drinking is not.  Still, it’s great for people with medical conditions who cannot get a driving license to be able to enjoy this type of independence by using a virtual chauffeur.  Gov. Brian Sandoval test drove a Toyota Prius last year. Human drivers will be able to override the autopilot function (this is probably why they need to be sober while in the car). 

In addition, there must always be two drivers in the car, with one of them being able to take control of the car, should the need arise. In addition, the cars need to have something like an aircraft black box that has the capacity to store the sensor data for at least half a minute before a collision occurs. In addition, ultimately whether or not there is a human driver present, the operator will be held responsible whether or not he or she is actually in the vehicle at the time of something happening.

Car Expenses

It won’t be cheap initially.  It seems that if a company wants to test one of these cars, a bond of between $1-3m (depending on how many cars they are planning to test).  Following the testing, the firms must provide data to the state on what they found.

So it is going to take time but it looks like Nevada is showing the rest of the nation the sign of things to come vis-à-vis mobility.

“With over two billion views a day, it’s easy to think about YouTube as a place to watch videos recorded in the past,” the company said in a blog. “But you’ve told us you want more, and that includes events taking place right now. In response, we’ve live streamed a number of popular concerts, sporting events and interviews, but primarily on a one-off basis.”

What Will It Do, and When?

According to the site, YouTube live will “integrate live streaming capabilities and discovery tools directly into the YouTube platform for the first time.”

YouTube partners will begin to stream live content very soon. “The goal is to provide thousands of partners with the capability to live stream from their channels in the months ahead,” the site explained. “In order to ensure a great live stream viewing experience, we’ll roll this offering out incrementally over time.”

YouTube users will be able to subscribe to their favorite live-streaming YouTube partners, and be notified for upcoming streams. This weekend, live streams will include a 7pm presentation of The DigiTour: Live from Google HQ!, which has been described as a “first ever large scale 6 week national tour bringing your favorite YouTube musicians to you.”