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We've all had those days: rushing around, trying to get errands done. You finally got the dry cleaning, and now you've got to get to the post office before it closes. So you go, pedal to the metal, thinking about what you need to get at the grocery store for dinner, when it hits you -- or, you hit it. While your mind was some place else, the car in front of you stopped, and you rear-ended it.
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The marketing manager of Team-LUX exhibits a driverless car at the Science Museum in London.
See more concept car pictures.
The DARPA Urban Challenge Some of this future driverless car tech may be closer
than you think. The DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)
Urban Challenge pits teams against each other to create cars that can
negotiate traffic autonomously. The goal of the program isn't just to
reduce traffic accidents and congestion, however: it's to produce
driverless vehicles for combat, keeping soldiers far from the front
lines.
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What could have prevented the accident? The obvious answer is that you could have -- by paying attention. But that answer isn't so simple. Driver error is the most common cause of traffic accidents, and with cell phones, in-car entertainment systems, more traffic and more complicated road systems, it isn't likely to go away. But if drivers aren't going to concentrate on the road, who is? If technology continues on its current course, your car will do the concentrating for you. Automakers are developing complex systems that allow cars to drive themselves. They're also furthering existing technologies such as self-parking and presafe cruise control. You may even be surprised to find out your old clunker already sports some driverless technologies.
In this article, we'll learn about the technology behind cars that can operate with minimal input from drivers, including how far away these cars are from production and what some of the downsides are.
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