Recently Google revealed the testing of the driverless car, the car which can drive itself from Electric Winch A to B without any input from the driver aside from entering the destination. The car works with a sensor on the roof which continuously spins 360° to gather information of its surroundings up to 200 ft, while a sensor on the left rear wheel tracks movements to place the car on the map. The car has undertaken extensive road testing and appears to be an effective piece of technology.
This kind of development could work wonders for modern day business with the ability to use laptops and mobile phones while the car takes over driving. My personal opinion is this kind of technology would be better applied as a reserve option in case of emergency or legitimate reason to take eyes off the road temporarily, using the system to allow the car to take over.
The use of auto-pilot has for a long time been an important feature for the cabin crew aboard commercial airlines. Incorporating a similar method into a car however could be difficult with the added external factors of traffic and variable surroundings, if this is developed smoothly it would still however take years to become commonplace within the auto-motive market, it would be a tremendous luxury to have to allow the car to take over the driving while you have a break or attend to that email you should have replied to over an hour ago.
This technology could prove to be a significant development in the use of the car, with the potential for its use as an auto-pilot style system, however while this technology is still in development it is important to remember to stay focused at the wheel, thousands of accidents occur every year as people lose focus at the wheel, this can often be down to tiredness after a long week at work with consecutive late finishes and early starts or simply down to a stressful day at the office.
Remember the importance of taking a break from driving on long journeys, even if only for 10 minutes at a service station for a coffee break. The break from the repetitive cats eyes and headlights can help the mind re-focus on the task in hand, getting you home safely.