Google tests cars that can steer without drivers

Google Inc.,  owner of the world’s most popular search engine, said it’s testingvehicles that drive themselves to help improve road safety and address environmental concerns.

The self-driving cars have traveled more than 140,000 miles (225,308 kilometers) in the experiments, according to a posting on Google’s blog today. The vehicles navigate by maps and use cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder to monitor traffic.

“Our goal is to help prevent traffic accidents, free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use,” Sebastian Thrun, asoftware engineer with Google, wrote in the blog. “While this project is very much in the experimental stage, it provides a glimpse of what transportation might look like in the future.”