PITTSBURGH, Penn. - Are you ready to be an Uber guinea pig?
Uber riders in Pittsburgh may be in for a shock soon when they hail a ride from their phone and suddenly notice — no one is driving.
"I do not like the idea," Pittsburgh resident Arlene Murphy said..
Well, welcome to driver-less Uber — powered by robots.
"I don't know if I feel safe," resident Roni Payne said. "A robot versus a human."
Another local, Glenn Rengers, said. "I'd second-guess getting in one without a driver."
This change wasn't supposed to happen until sometime in the future. But now the future is here since Uber has been testing the new self-driving cars in 'Steel Town' since May, and later this month they plan to go live with the new program.
"I think the biggest thing is it's taking away jobs," one resident said.
For now, the Uber cars actually do have a human upfront to "supervise" the ride, but make no mistake — a robot is running the show, using cameras, radar, GPS receivers and laser scanners to collect and process all the data.
Last month, Tesla's new autopilot function came under fire when a driver died after colliding with a tractor-trailer.
And Google's self-driving vehicles have also seen a handful of accidents but less severe, since their cars cannot go over 25 mph.
Hopefully, Uber's try at nobody-behind-the wheel will be a smooth ride.
