It became clear that even Google, which has done the most testing in California by far, is not on the cusp of perfecting a car that doesn't need a driver. And that, for now at least, traditional automakers remain far behind.

The data on "disengagements" of the self-driving technology document the gap.

Google reported that, in 424,000 miles of testing since autumn 2014, its cars needed human help 341 times due to serious safety issues. The leader of its self-driving car project, Chris Urmson, said that while he considers the results encouraging, they show room for improvement. After all, by the company's own analysis, there were 11 instances in which the car would have had an accident if its driver had not taken over.

Five other companies combined said their prototypes drove about 36,000 miles in the same time period — and needed human help more than 2,400 times. Those five companies were Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and parts suppliers Bosch and Delphi.

The seventh company, Tesla Motors, reported no problems — but did not report that it drove any test miles, either.>BR>

By: DocMemory
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