# It's wintertime....Are any self-driving cars driving in snow yet?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-wintertime-are-any-self-driving-cars-driving-in-snow-yet/805454>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 28, 2017, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-wintertime-are-any-self-driving-cars-driving-in-snow-yet/805454 "2017-12-28T09:07:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-wintertime-are-any-self-driving-cars-driving-in-snow-yet/805454/1 "2017-12-28T09:07:16Z")

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There’s been a lot of hype in the news about self-driving cars. (and there have been a lot of threads here, too 🙂 )  
This is GQ, and I don’t want to re-hash the old questions about how long it will take for self-driving cars to conquer the world.

So my question is simple and short–regarding the self-driving cars which have been seen moving on urban roads in realistic conditions during the past year or so:  
Have any of these cars been seen driving on snow?

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**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-wintertime-are-any-self-driving-cars-driving-in-snow-yet/805454/2 "2017-12-28T09:41:38Z")

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Never mind snow… rain, hail, fog, night driving…

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-wintertime-are-any-self-driving-cars-driving-in-snow-yet/805454/3 "2017-12-28T14:37:53Z")

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I think the question you actually mean to ask is, are there any self-driving cars yet which are _safely_ driving in snow (or rain, or hail, or fog)?

But the question to ask first is, are there any human-driven cars yet which are safely driving in snow (or rain, or hail, or fog)?

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**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-wintertime-are-any-self-driving-cars-driving-in-snow-yet/805454/4 "2017-12-28T15:25:13Z")

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[Martti is a self-driving car from Finland designed for icy snow-covered roads](https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/martti-finland-self-driving-car-snow/)

[Self-driving cars face a new test: snow](https://www.ft.com/content/99225360-e071-11e7-8f9f-de1c2175f5ce) (Financial Times article, Paywalled but you should be able to view it once.)

[The clever way Ford’s self-driving cars navigate in snow](https://www.wired.com/2016/01/the-clever-way-fords-self-driving-cars-navigate-in-snow/) (Wired article from 2 years ago about Ford starting testing self-driving cars in snow)

[Here’s how self-driving cars are learning to deal with snow](http://www.businessinsider.com/how-self-driving-cars-learn-to-deal-with-snow-2017-10) (Business Insider article about Waymo testing their self-driving cars in snow)

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**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-wintertime-are-any-self-driving-cars-driving-in-snow-yet/805454/5 "2017-12-28T16:19:41Z")

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There’s a new self-driving car testing facility in Michigan, a state which has a little snow:

> **[Snow doesn't stop opening of Michigan's self-driving vehicle test track](https://www.mlive.com/business/ann-arbor/2017/12/snowy_weather_prompts_opening.html)**
>
> A long-awaited autonomous vehicle testing facility in Ypsilanti Township is taking advantage of the Michigan's first heavy snowfall and opening up the track for some of its founding sponsors.