Driverless Cars Coming to Nevada?

By Farhan Naqvi, Personal Injury Lawyer in Nevada
Readers of this blog know all too well that some drivers do pretty stupid things. They drink, take drugs, text, drive on the wrong side of the road, and much more. Very often, this idiotic behavior results in a collision which causes property damage, injuries, and even deaths.
So what if we could just do away with the drivers?
Don’t laugh – one company is tinkering with that very idea. What’s more, the company already has a track record of taking an unusual idea and converting it into a multibillion dollar enterprise: Google.
The search engine giant has been experimenting with driverless cars. And believe it or not, this pilot project has become so successful that Google debuted several of these revolutionary vehicles at the Technology Entertainment Design conference in Long Beach, California back in March. Each of the driverless cars on display had already traveled at least 14,000 miles without an accident.
Now, Google wants to expand the experiment into the real world. And where does it want the laboratory to be? Right here in Nevada.
Google is so serious about this that it has hired David Goldwater, a renowned Las Vegas lobbyist, to plead its case before state legislators. Last month, Goldwater told lawmakers that driverless cars would not only be safer than their human-operated counterparts, but they would also be more fuel efficient and spur economic development in the state.
Bear in mind that Google is only seeking permission to test its driverless cars – not to market, manufacture, or sell them to Nevada consumers. And even getting consent to conduct the experiments here will take more than a simple okay from Carson City. A few new laws will have to be passed to allow driverless cars to be operated legally on Nevada roads. And we all know how slowly the state legislature often moves when it comes to new legislation. In fact, lawmakers aren’t expected to even consider the idea until next month.
Still, the notion of driverless cars is intriguing. Will they cut down on motor vehicle accidents? Will they cause more problems than they solve? How will they respond to real-world conditions on Nevada highways, Las Vegas freeways, or traffic jams on the Strip? Feel free to let us know your opinions on this matter. After all, you could pull up behind a driverless car sooner than you think.
o   About the Editor: Farhan R. Naqvi is a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer who has experience representing victims injured in motorcycle accidents, car accidents, drunk driver crashes, auto pedestrian accidents, truck wrecks, slip and falls, taxi cab accidents, and bicycle crashes. He also has experience handling spine injury, product liability, underinsured/uninsured driver, and wrongful death cases. If you’ve been seriously hurt in an accident in Summerlin, North Las Vegas, Clark County, Henderson, Boulder City, Green Valley, or Pahrump, give Farhan a call at 702-553-1000 for a free, no-hassle consultation.