Russia's Google, Yandex, impresses with its self-driving tech

After a couple of years spent testing its autonomous-drive system in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia, Yandex -- the Russian equivalent of Google -- showcased its self-driving product at CES in January. The results were encouraging, based on my 20-minute drive in downtown Las Vegas traffic in a Toyota Prius fitted with the Yandex equipment. The ride was smooth -- actually, smoother than other test cars I have tried in the past months. I would say the vehicle's behavior had a much more "human" feeling than I had expected, with smooth turns, less hesitation when merging into traffic, good acceleration and no sudden braking. The route included unprotected left-hand turns, pedestrian crossings and busy traffic with speeds exceeding 70 kph.