Google Teaches Its Self-Driving Cars to Honk Various Warnings

Jennifer van der Kleut

Google has taught its self-driving cars how to honk, according to its latest monthly report.

What’s more, the cars reportedly honk different sounds depending on the type of warning it wishes to send.

As Fortune Magazine reports, engineers have fine-tuned their self-driving software to be able to distinguish between a car briefly facing the wrong way during a three-point turn, or a car about to drive the wrong way down the road.

“For instance, Google’s car will belt you two short ‘pips’ when another vehicle is slowly reversing towards the Google car. This is the friendliest of beeps. Or, it may lean into one loud sustained honk in a situation that requires more urgency,” Fortune explains.

“Our self-driving cars aim to be polite, considerate, and only honk when it makes driving safer for everyone,” Google wrote in the report. “Our goal is to teach our cars to honk like a patient, seasoned driver. As we become more experienced honkers, we hope our cars will also be able to predict how other drivers respond to a beep in different situations.”

Google is currently testing a fleet o f 24 Lexus RX450h SUVs and 34 pod-shaped prototype vehicles on public roads in California, Arizona, Washington and Texas.