Google’s driverless car

You may have heard about Google’s driverless car. But you have to see it to believe it. Sebastian Thrun, who helped build it, was driven by his own quest to save lives—after losing his best friend to a car accident at age 18. Watching someone sitting behind the steering wheel of a car that’s driving itself is a bit unnerving. But there it is, forging ahead on busy San Francisco streets, including the famously crooked Lombard Street, and California freeways—even through toll booths. Thrun notes that car accidents (almost all of which are due to human error) are the leading cause of death for young people, but that could be prevented by this kind of technology. In addition, he believes the capacity of highways could increase three-fold.