Google's self-driving cars hit the rainy streets of Washington state
Seattle suburb becomes the third city to test Google's robot cars.
Google is expanding its self-driving car test to the rainy and hilly city of Kirkland, Washington. In fact, citizens of the Seattle suburb have probably already noticed one of the company's Lexus RX450h SUV driving around over the past few weeks mapping the roads. The rest of the fleet of autonomous vehicles will be hitting the road next month.
Google says that Kirkland is an ideal place for wet weather and hilly road practice. The inclines can be used to test the vehicles' sensors on different angles and inclines. Also, this is the opportunity to drop the cars in a different environment with a driving style that's probably different than cities the vehicle is currently being tested in, Austin, Texas and Mountain View, California.
Kirkland Mayor, Amy Walen said of the cars' imminent arrival, "we're thrilled to have the cars here as they do more testing. It's a great fit."
