Read: Japan Is Opening a Hotel Staffed Almost Entirely by Robots
In Google’s hypothetical future, we will all be shuttled around Neo Pittsburgh and the Sovereign Micronation of Staten Island in sleek, driver-less vehicles, speeding past one another on the streets while lounging in backseats and listening to Cranial News implants.
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Unfortunately, we’re not quite there yet.
A standout cop just busted a Google self-driving car in Mountain View, California, for creeping along at less than 25 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone, as NBC News reports.
The police officer apparently realized that the car was being driven by a machine when he pulled it over, and wanted “to learn more about how the car was choosing speeds along certain roadways and to educate the operators about impeding traffic,” according to a post on the Mountain View Police Department’s WordPress blog. No ticket was issued to the human passenger(s) inside, who reportedly took control when the cop turned on his siren.
Following the incident, Google released a statement about how, due to “safety reasons,” the self-driving cars are programmed to stay under 25 mph.
“Driving too slowly? Bet humans don’t get pulled over for that too often,” they wrote.
We’re still waiting to find out whether the officer in question has received any kind of bonus or citation for sticking it to the emerging robot dystopia.
Thumbnail image via Flickr user smoothgroover22
