Google makes progress on self-driving cars, hits 2 million mile mark

Google's self-driving vehicles are mastering complex situations on public roads, from cars going the wrong way to bicycles darting in front of traffic, as the technology company strives to win the high-profile race to achieve full vehicle automation. The Alphabet Inc unit, which has been developing autonomous cars since 2009, said its self-driving vehicles had logged two million miles (3.2 million km) on public roads, and it continues to log about 25,000 miles of test drives per week. Google has been a leader in testing autonomous vehicles on public roads, prompting traditional carmakers to step up their self-driving plans to avoid being eclipsed by the tech leader, which has yet to disclose a business strategy for its car project. A bill signed on Thursday gives self-driving the freedom to travel on public roads without steering wheels, brake pedals or accelerators and more importantly, without human drivers - such as the two shown testing Google' self-driving car The Silicon Valley-based company is focused on making cars fully autonomous, with no need for a driver, which could make driving safer and more efficient and open up transportation to the disabled and aged. It said last year that such cars would be ready for production by 2020.