The autonomous car idea got a boost in 2010 when Google Inc. disclosed its effort to perfect the technology.
Self-driving cars could drastically improve road safety, according to Prof Paul Newman, who heads an Oxford University autonomous car project project.
BBC: Toyota sneak previews self-drive car ahead of tech show
Google was awarded an autonomous car patent in 2011, and secured a Nevada driving licence for its self-drive car in May 2012.
BBC: Toyota sneak previews self-drive car ahead of tech show
He was driven in Google's autonomous car, obviously loved it and looks to two crucial differences between the support offered by the British and American governments.
While key components of these research efforts could lead to a fully autonomous car in the future, the vision is not necessarily a car that drives itself.
But an exciting moment for Google engineers came one day when the autonomous car slowed suddenly on a city street when there was no traffic ahead of it.
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If you lost your foot in an accident with an autonomous car it is almost guaranteed that the other driver, the person responsible for the autonomous car, was not looking at the road with due care and attention.
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DARPA, after all, is the ultra-forward-thinking Pentagon agency that hosted the Grand Challenge in 2006 and 2007, an autonomous car race across the Mojave desert, as well as the Urban Challenge, a 2008 event that challenged self-driving cars to negotiate a cityscape complete with obstacles and traffic.
Other businesses, such as tourism, have been pulled back into central control, with formerly semi-autonomous outfits such as car-hire agencies and marinas now run by ministries.
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Toyota is one of several heavy-weight car manufacturers and technology companies researching autonomous vehicles.
BBC: Toyota sneak previews self-drive car ahead of tech show
Research is being done on autonomous braking technology, which can stop a car when other vehicles or obstacles get too close, and lane-keeping support, which applies a correcting force through the steering if the driver drifts out of their lane.
The main technology underpinning Volvo's autonomous automobiles is wireless internet, which would enable each car to be assigned a certain point on the road and give different vehicles the ability to interact with each other.
Each car receives a special red license plate emblazoned with the infinity sign and the letters AU, for autonomous vehicle.
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