Waymo showcases test model of self-driving car

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) – Although flying cars do not yet exist, self-driving cars now do. California-based company Waymo has worked on their fully autonomous cars for the past 15 years. Saturday, they brought a test model to Rochester.

RIT hosts its "Driving Electric Rochester" event each year, attracting local electric car enthusiasts. Waymo has a fully electric line-up of vehicles that could change the norm of ridesharing.

It has not been an easy process to create the cars. Waymo's Strategy and Operations Lead Ishtpreet Singh said there's a lot of moving parts to make the full automation come to life.

"We have 29 cameras, five lidar sensors, and then six radar sensors on the vehicle," Singh said. "It allows us to perceive the world in 360 degrees and up to three football fields away. It's just an amazing amount of perception that never gets tired and never gets distracted.

Waymo started originally as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009. Since then, it has launched in three major cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix. It has completed over 100 thousand rides successfully.

There are safety concerns with the technology, however, as there have been reported fatalities as a result of the vehicle's full automation.

Singh further explained their in-depth procedures for testing Waymo vehicles.

"I think at the very core of our mission is this commitment to safety and raising the bar in safety," Singh said. "Our main objective is to bring this life saving technology to more and more people in more and more places."

Currently, Waymo and all other fully autonomous vehicles are not legal for personal use in New York State. They are only eligible for testing here. However, Senator Jeremy Cooney (D-NY) has plans to introduce a bill next year that would pave the way for the rollout of these cars.