Getting Closer to Autonomous Cars

Some points of interest about autonomous cars:
From USA Today:

 The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will start studying aspects of autonomous driving in August with a one-year pilot project in Ann Arbor, Mich., to test 3,000 cars with equipment to communicate with one another to prevent accidents. Officials have expressed support for technology that addresses distracted driving and prevents accidents.

Issues still to be resolved include who is liable in a crash and whether drivers of autonomous cars are legally exempt from bans on texting.

And Google's car took a blind guy to Taco Bell:

Much has been written about how self-driving cars may ease traffic and solve the texting-while-behind-the-wheel problem. But there’s another benefit: Such autos will allow people previously unable to drive to become more independent. In the video below, Steve Mahan, who is 95 percent blind, takes a Google self-driving car for a spin.

The promise of increased mobility for visually impaired  travelers is great. Using a "south of the border" run to demonstrate how cool the technology is probably won't gain any converts from people who think Americans are fat because of cars, however. (I'm not one of those people.)