What a weekend for girl power on the big screen Salt, starring none other than ForbesWoman role model Angelina Jolie was originally built as a vehicle for Mission Impossible star Tom Cruise.

FORBES: Angelina Jolie and the Salt Gender Switch

Some cars now have a form of cruise control that stops the vehicle colliding with another.

ECONOMIST: Clean machine

One day, the company's engineers hope, drive-by-wire could link to the fancy cruise-control, lane-maintenance and vehicle-separation systems that are already being used in some Mercedes models.

ECONOMIST: Drive by wire

Between the blind-spot monitoring system, the active lane-keeping, the adaptive cruise control (maintaining a set distance to the vehicle ahead), and the "precollision" system, which uses internal cameras to monitor drivers' faces for signs of inattention, the GS350 is about as close to an automated auto as you'll find on the market.

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Radar embedded in the front of the Fusion sweeps the road ahead and when the adaptive cruise control is activated the car automatically slows down as it approaches another vehicle within a certain distance and then speeds up when the gap widens.

FORBES: Automakers On The Road To Self-Driving Cars

Mercedes-Benz's Distronic Plus system, for instance, contains radar-based sensors as part of its cruise-control system, to keep the car at a preset distance from the vehicle in front, braking automatically if the gap narrows quickly.

ECONOMIST: Rational consumer

The three-wheeled PT2 certainly has a flair for the dramatic, as its metallic paint, vivid interior, and overall dashing good looks make it a sight for sore eyes in the fully electric vehicle department, and as if that weren't good enough, this bad boy can reportedly cruise 125 to 250 miles on a single charge, hitting speeds "around 125-miles per hour" along the way.

ENGADGET: Silence PT2 rocks three wheels, all electric powertrain

When asked, some study participants expressed strong interest in having a vehicle that could drive itself, particularly for long trips when lane centering and full-speed range adaptive cruise control could help lighten the driver's workload.

ENGADGET: Cadillac road tests self-driving Super Cruise tech, could hit highways by mid-decade