Google will soon be taking its Driverless Car program out on public roads in the U.S.

The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles says it has issued Google the U.S. first license to test a self-driving car on the open road.

Department officials said that before issuing the license, they confirmed the safety of the unmanned car in trial runs.

Google modified three Toyota Prius models to test the technology. To navigate, the cars use Google Street View as well as information gathered by onboard lasers, cameras and other technology. The system creates a virtual buffer zone around obstacles to help the car avoid them safely.

Officials also said a human passenger will always accompany the test drives just in case someone does need to get behind the wheel.