Reporter, did you even ask the Google engineers about that? For a media demo, it is not at all surprising that they would use an already driven route. The reporting here was a bit disappointing.
Actually, no, this limitation has been well documented (but cleverly brushed aside). The car doesn't see and understand the road ahead, it follows an invisible line on the ground, and can stop if it detects danger. It doesn't read signs.
So yes, demos are impressive, but slightly misleading.
I'm pretty sure there's no "invisible line on the ground". From what I've read, the route simply needs to be mapped at a higher resolution than most roads have been mapped before.
Actually, no, this limitation has been well documented (but cleverly brushed aside). The car doesn't see and understand the road ahead, it follows an invisible line on the ground, and can stop if it detects danger. It doesn't read signs.
So yes, demos are impressive, but slightly misleading.