Driverless car drivers take 'back seat'

GOOGLE won't say exactly how many drivers it employs to test its driverless cars, but they come from a variety of backgrounds.

AFTER a friend recommended that he join a secret Google project six years ago, Brian Torcellini suddenly found himself on the road to an occupational oxymoron. He became a driver in a driverless car.

TORCELLINI, 31, leads a crew of test, or "safety," drivers who are legally required to ride in Google's fleet of 48 robot cars. They only take control in emergencies. Otherwise, they make observations that help the internet company's engineers program the cars to navigate the roads without human assistance.