Self-driving cars: Behold the future of automobile travel

Have you ever ridden in a limousine, or hired a sedan to drop you off or take you home from the airport? Or, do you ride a train, subway, or bus for your daily commute? Wouldn’t it be nice if someone else did all the driving all the time?

There are a variety of benefits to letting someone else do the driving. Google explained to an audience of journalists yesterday that as much as 92 percent of the space on our highways is empty space, and that it just makes sense to use it more efficiently–something a computerized car can do, and human drivers have proven woefully inadequate at. Google also claims that 1.2 million people die each year from vehicle accidents, and that 90 percent of those accidents are a result of human error.

Perhaps the most compelling argument for self-driving cars, though, is productivity. Google estimates that there is $2 trillion–trillion, with a “T”–in unrealized economic potential from time wasted behind the wheel just getting from Point A to Point B. You can talk or text guilt free and without breaking any laws. You can get some work done, catch up on current events, read a book, or watch the latest episode of Game of Thrones.

Harry McCracken of Technologizer and Time magazine had a chance to experience the Google self-driving car firsthand. Read this article in Time to see what he thought, and find out why self-driving cars are the future of automobile transportation.