The car drove steadily in its own lane, occasionally encountering traffic jams or hazards such as the vehicles in front of it moving too slowly. It would predict the situation of the traffic flow in front of it, switch to another lane to continue driving, and then change lanes again.
The series of reactions was full of praise. There was a green light ahead with ten seconds left on the timer. The car was very steady, but the car behind seemed a little eager to run through the green light. However, according to the speed of the car, the car behind would not be able to make it in time. Thus, the driver behind came in a hurry. Then, the car started its comprehensive analysis and began an evaluation.
It accelerated by 20%, advancing three seconds ahead of schedule. However, no one expected that when the light was still green, a little girl of five or six years old suddenly ran out from the sidewalk. The fastest response speed of the driverless system was one second, but there were only about 1o feet left of distance from the girl. In an instant, the car was only 2 feet away from the girl.
The girl’s skirt seemed to brush against the very front of the car. A human’s reaction might be too late. The man in the driver’s seat was pale and tried to control the car himself. However, his reaction speed was nowhere near that of the car.
The four people who were laughing and joking in the car one second all looked ashen in the next. This was an unexpected accident! Just when they were about to feel despair and braced themselves to see the girl flying after being hit, the car stopped abruptly. The car’s inertia caused a lurch, but the people inside did not suffer much of a hit. Not a single drop spilled from the coffee cup in the hands of the person in the passenger seat.
Their faces were still pale, seemingly not yet getting over the despair just now. The little girl’s mother grabbed the child who ran out, smiled apologetically at the people in the car, then carried her away. It was as if the danger earlier did not happen. The car noticed that the danger was eliminated and slowly started the car and drove on since there were still three seconds left for the green light. The driver behind them did not make it in time and swore angrily. “Did you drive slowly on purpose? Was it intentional?” In addition to the three people in the conference room watching the video and the four people in the car, no one seemed to have noticed this little episode. Nicole and Gerard watched this scene and slowly exhaled.
Their nerves were completely on edge just now. If something happened, this project would never be implemented there again. It would definitely cause more people to oppose it.
The car passed through that road smoothly and stopped at the next destination. The staff to the side spoke. “What happened earlier was just a small accident. Before this, the combination of the AI system and the driverless system had been put through all sorts of accidents hundreds and thousands of times. We integrated the probability rates of anything that might happen on the road around the world and made the fastest reaction procedure in advance, so unless someone intentionally crashes into the car, a normal accident would not happen.”
This was the most advanced part of the driverless advantage over a human response mechanism. “The next test phase is the racing mode.” In the conference room. Nicole raised her brows. Gerard rubbed his chin with interest. “This mode is something I asked them to add last- minute. Even racers who compete in competitions don’t know the special features of this car. We must discover all the limits of this car!”
