Here come the self-driving cars

While most industry officials don’t envision a fully self-driving, or autonomous, vehicle before 2025, features such as adaptive cruise control or traffic jam assist that automatically slow or apply the brakes for a car in certain situations are already being introduced. And much like anti-lock brakes became the norm after initial resistance, these new technologies will prepare drivers for a future where they are needed less.

“The whole concept of a car being able to drive itself is pretty profound,” said Larry Burns, GM’s former research and development chief and an adviser for Google’s self-driving car project. “This is the most transformational play to hit the auto industry in 125 years.”

The progress has been in the making for decades as GM’s Firebird II, introduced in 1956, included a system to work with an electrical wire embedded in the highway to guide the car. Three years later, the rocket-like Cyclone boasted an autopilot system that steered the car and radar in front nose cones that warned of a collision and automatically applied the brakes.