Just imagine this: You’re stuck in bad traffic, and some driver behind you lost its cool and is now supporting its palm on the honk even though there’s clearly nowhere to go.

You turn around to say something, but you realize there’s no one behind the wheel – the car is being annoying autonomously! With a little bit of luck, this scenario won’t happen anytime soon.

However, Google has announced the groundwork for autonomous honking is already here, as the self-driving fleet of cars has started learning how and when to honk.

The news was first spotted Business Insider in Google’s Self-Driving Car Project Monthly Report, which unveiled new data from May. In the report, Google explained that there’s no need to worry about impolite and annoying self-honking cars – in theory at least.

Apparently, the company is teaching its vehicles to be polite and considerate. “Our self-driving software is designed to recognize when honking may help alert other drivers to our presence — for example when a driver begins swerving into our lane or backing out of a blind driveway,” the report stated.

To make sure the cars won’t be honking unnecessarily, Google is programming the cars’ software to see the difference between actual honk-demanding situations and the often false positives.

During the development phase, Google’s test drivers note down every time the car toots without cause, making sure the error can be eliminated in the next version of the car’s software.

The cars have been taught more than just one type of honks, using a different one depending on the scenario: two short toots are reserved for when a car ahead is slowly reversing back into the self-driving car, but there are also longer honks that call to action in more urgent situations.

Google also released report details about the sound its self-driving cars make. Unlike gasoline-powered cars, electric cars are inherently quiet, so manufacturers had to add a sonic hum that made the car’s presence known to pedestrians and cyclists.

In Google’s own words, the sound is meant to be “friendly and a little futuristic.” Eventually, its self-driving cars will learn to predict how other drivers on the road respond to a situation-specific honk of the horn.
Image Source: AOL