According to an AP article, GM is seriously researching driverless cars.

Cars that drive themselves — even parking at their destination — could be ready for sale within a decade, General Motors Corp. executives say.

The most significant obstacles facing the vehicles could be human rather than technical: government regulation, liability laws, privacy concerns and people's passion for the automobile and the control it gives them.

Much of the technology already exists for vehicles to take the wheel: radar-based cruise control, motion sensors, lane-change warning devices, electronic stability control and satellite-based digital mapping. ... If people are interested

The first use likely would be on highways; people would have the option to choose a driverless mode while they still would control the vehicle on local streets ... the company plans to test driverless car technology by 2015 and have cars on the road around 2018.

A key benefit of the technology eventually will be safer roads and reducing the roughly 42,000 U.S. traffic deaths that occur annually — 95 percent of which are caused by human mistakes.

It will really change society, very much like the transition from a horse to a car.

Original Article

I'm all for the car taking over on those long stretches of highway!

This bears watching, especially if the radar works better than humans do when there's a bend in the road on I-15.

My only concern would be who provides the road layouts. If Mapquest is involved I could end up parked in someone's living room or off a cliff.

Still, that might be worth it if I ever were to consider taking I-15 again.

I actually saw a bit about this on "The Corbert Report" last night--very funny!!! The scary part is that people are already doing a hundred other things while driving a non-automated vehicle!!! Now, let's be clear... I can dial numbers & talk on the phone; eat; discipline four kids; prepare fast food ketchup packets; open water bottles; search-for, locate and reinsert binkies; read directions and apply makeup while driving at highway speeds... But most people are not that talented and the roads are just scary!!! (Note: If the list of things you do while driving needs to be separated by semi-colons, you are in serious trouble!) :)

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