Google to test cars without a driver at Moffett Field

Google plans to begin testing its new prototype of a self-driving car -- which, unlike earlier models, the company hopes to operate without a backup driver -- at NASA's Ames Research Center on the grounds of Moffett Field, just a few miles from the tech company's headquarters, space agency officials said this week. Because Moffett is federal property, Google cars can drive the network of streets that crisscross the sprawling, 2,000-acre research facility without worrying about California regulations that say a human operator must be able to take control of self-driving vehicles during testing on public roads. Testing of cars without drivers could begin at Moffett early next year, according to a statement from Ames Associate Director Deborah Feng. NASA is working with Google on the project and hopes to gain useful information for its own efforts to develop unmanned drones and air traffic management systems. The Google cars are one of several projects run by the company's secretive X division, overseen by co-founder Sergey Brin. He and Google CEO Larry Page have said computer-driven cars may someday eliminate countless traffic injuries and deaths caused by human error, while also saving time, money and land devoted to parking, since they could drop off passengers and return later to pick them up.