Ford's Driverless Car To Start Testing in California

The future of transportation is here, as Ford announced on Tuesday that they will begin testing their first fully autonomous car around California in 2016. The Washington Post said that the state's DMV has already given the company the permit to test the Ford Fusion. California is hardly the first state to test such tech: it is also said to be testing out on public roads in Michigan, and conducts trials at its proving ground in Arizona.

Ford said that California's weather will allow for test expansions later on. A new environment can provide opportunities for the vehicles to experience their own challenges, like dealing with motorcycles that are legally allowed to split lanes, or a box falling off a truck, or how to deal with pieces of blown tires lying in lanes.

This move by Ford makes it easier for them to develop tech, with the many giants to hold expertise in Silicon Valley. In January, Ford has already opened a research innovation center in Palo Alto and hired workers for the tech sector, as they build relationships with the University of California-Berkeley, San Jose State, Santa Clara as well as Carnegie Mellon.

With digital companies being the backbone of the future in transportation, companies like Ford had to expand their horizons and bring on experts that traditionally haven't worked for car companies before.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Ford hopes to one day bring forth a "Level 4" autonomous car that will need neither driver nor input, even in cases of emergencies.

James McBride, founder of Ford's anonymous vehicles program said, "We've always taken the approach that we want the car to be able to handle any scenario a human would, and not suddenly throw the driving back into the lap of the driver."

Ford is not the first to have a driverless car, though: there are already plenty of car companies testing the same sort of tech, among which are the Volkswagen, the Mercedes-Benz, Tesla Motors, Nissan, and Honda. Even tech giant Google has their own permit to run an autonomous car around the Bay Area.

Gartner vice president and automotive practice leader Thilo Koslowski said that the tests are necessary, adding that "They have to make sure their cars are relevant, going forward. The cars have to be safer, just like they have to be more fuel efficient. All the car companies are looking at the entire spectrum, including fully autonomous cars."

What do you think of autonomous cars being the future of transportation?