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Alex joyrides in Google's driverless car

SN EXTRA Alex joyrides in Google's driverless car

Reporter Alex Cullen took to the rooftop car park at Google's headquarters to test-drive their two-seater car, which is similar in size to a Smart Car.

"I feel nervous. I'm a little uncomfortable because I'm putting my life in the hands of a machine," he said getting into the compact vehicle.

"Where's the steering wheel, where's the gears?"

He likened the unnerving experience to being on a show ride, but pretty soon Google assures us we'll be comfortably reading or working on the morning commute.

"It's like being on a ride. Yes. Woah. It's getting some speed here now."

Alex experienced the car's safety features, 360-degree sensors that can see as far as two football fields.

"There's a guy walking in front of us and it's stopping just like it should."

WATCH MORE: Watch Sunday Night's full story on driverless cars

Watch more driverless car videos below:

There will be no arguing with the driver on this bus: the rides are free and there's no driver anyway. Trikala, a rural town in northern Greece, has been chosen to test a driverless bus in real traffic conditions for the first time, part of a European project to revolutionize mass transport.



British officials began testing a different style of driverless cars in January 2014, complete with gearsticks and steering wheels.

Fancy less cute, more sexy? Mercedes-Benz has showcased its self-driving sedan, the F015 Luxury in Motion, a research vehicle that envisions what high-end cars might look like.

But things don't always go to plan. A golf cart took on a life of its own at Loyola University in Chicago in April when it ran in reverse at full throttle for several minutes before it could be stopped.