Waymo Releases Demo Video To Reassure Safety For Potential Riders

By Roy Sotelo, Christian Post Contributor Thursday, March 01, 2018

Waymo, Alphabet Inc.'s self-driving car, has released a 360-degree demo video of it driving through roads.

On its YouTube channel, Waymo uploaded a 3 minute and 36-second long video yesterday with details of how the autonomous car works. The video explains how Waymo's radar could detect its distance between other cars and objects. The radar also commands the car to stop when a stop light is red.

A predictability feature is also available, wherein Waymo predicts the behavior of objects "up to three football fields away." According to the video's description, the footage used in the film was from an actual trip by Waymo. The video repeatedly assured the safety of Waymo's potential riders and the future pedestrians it would come across.

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The autonomous car had been driven for more than 5 million miles, according to its blog post retrieved by Reuters. With this much driving experience, many people have been growing their trust in the company.

The Arizona Department of Transportation has reportedly granted a permit for the self-driving car to operate as a transportation network company (TNC) in Arizona.

"As we continue to test drive our fleet of vehicles in greater Phoenix, we're taking all the steps necessary to launch our commercial service this year," a Waymo spokesman said in an emailed statement obtained by Quartz Media.

The company has not released too many details about Waymo being a public transportation vehicle. No one knows how the rates will be yet given that no wages will be paid to human drivers.

But, Ruth Porat, Alphabet Inc.'s chief financial officer, revealed that the company is very excited for Waymo to launch as a public utility vehicle.

Porat told Quartz Media on the company's fourth-quarter earnings call on Feb. 1 that once Waymo is ready for public transportation, riders will be able to hail a self-driving car through a Waymo app.