John Krafcik

AZ I See It

In 2014, Arizona experienced three deadly crashes in a matter of seven days, including two fatalities when a driver traveled down the wrong side of the highway.

Tragedies like these clearly demonstrate the need to make our roads safer — but to do so, we must tackle the biggest problem with driving: human error.

A staggering 94 percent of crashes in the U.S. involve human error and distracted driving.

In Arizona, more than 850 people died and another 36,000 were injured in roadway crashes in 2015. That’s the equivalent of one person dying on Arizona roads approximately every 10 hours — an unacceptable statistic.

Fully self-driving cars can remove human error from the equation and save lives, and metro Phoenix is now playing an important role in helping bring this technology to the world.

Self-driving cars don’t get tired or distracted. They don’t text at the wheel or drink and drive. They have sensors that can see 360 degrees in all directions, and software that can track hundreds of objects simultaneously, even in the dark of night. Humans, in contrast, have a 120-degree field of view and are even more limited when looking through rear-view mirrors or outside the range of headlights.

RELATED: Google shows off self-driving cars in Chandler

This technology can give people, including the elderly and disabled, an opportunity to safely get around. No one should have to worry when their 16-year-old drives for the first time.

No one should have to take the keys away from their aging parents. No one should be forced to stay home simply because they have a disability and can’t drive.

Since we began testing earlier this year, we’ve heard from many curious residents, many of whom are eager to get involved. One day, we hope to give people here a chance to ride in our self-driving cars.

For now, we’ll continue developing our technology in collaboration with the Arizona community. We’re glad to be here.

In just a few short months, we’ve made a lot of progress for self-driving cars. Since April, we’ve begun autonomously driving our cars in Chandler and Ahwatukee Foothills, making them the first two areas in Arizona to have fully self-driving cars on the road.

We’re also proud to have brought on test drivers — many of whom are Arizona natives — to monitor our car on the roads and provide feedback to our engineering team on how the car is driving. And we’ve learned new skills, like how to detect and respond to speed limits that change based on the time of the day.

Everyone should have a way to safely get around, whether to visit friends and family, run simple errands, or do what they love. We should have the freedom of mobility without the risk that other drivers are distracted.

We look forward to working together to safely deploy this life-saving technology in more communities here in Arizona and across the country.

And we are proud to call Arizona home as we hone our technology. If you see one of our cars on the road, we’d love to hear from you.



John Krafcik is the CEO of Google’s Self-Driving Car project. Follow him on Twitter, @JohnKrafcik. Interested in getting involved with our project? Reach us through https://www.google.com/selfdrivingcar/getinvolved/.