Today, Nevada lawmakers made history by giving the green light to self-driving cars on their roads.

That’s right. No drivers required.

Nevada lawmakers sought input from police, insurance carriers and automobile manufacturers before drafting legislation which would regulate these computer controlled, autonomous vehicles, but it passed with an overwhelming majority of support.

Just because we might have fleets of driverless cars on the road sooner than anyone thought possible is no reason for you to stop being a defensive driver, however. In fact, it’s likely an even better reason to drive defensively because you’ll soon be sharing the road with vehicles that simply don’t know any better.

Google, the company known for its near ubiquitous search engine, has been working on the technology to power autonomous vehicles for nearly a decade and they say the time is now to automate some transportation services. They envision a day when cars will drive themselves, thus reducing commuting times, cutting down on emissions and alleviating traffic congestion.

This also means that at least some vehicles will likely still have very real human drivers behind the wheel and that the two will need to find ways to coexist. It is a fact of life that technology is changing our world in ways which have never imagined, but it is no substitute for common sense and excellent driving skills.

So although computer driven cars will likely be joining human powered vehicles on the road sooner, rather than later, you still need to keep your driving skills sharp and your wits about you at all the time.

Remember, they might let a robot drive a car, but they will never require a robot to attend traffic school. At least, not until after they’ve been driving for a while. You, on the other hand, are free to improve your driving skills any time you feel the need.

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