GM: Self Driving cars on the road in 10 years

GM Researching Driverless Cars:

DETROIT (AP) - Cars that drive themselves—even parking at their destination—could be ready for sale within a decade, General Motors Corp. executives say.
GM, parts suppliers, university engineers and other automakers all are working on vehicles that could revolutionize short- and long-distance travel. And Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner will devote part of his speech to the driverless vehicles.

"This is not science fiction," Larry Burns, GM's vice president for research and development, said in a recent interview. ...

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. And automated vehicles could dramatically improve life on the road, reducing crashes and congestion.

I wrote about this technology in 2005: The self driving car, on the way:

Remember how Roy Rogers fetched Trigger by whistling? So we’ll call our cars for curb service via cell phone. Not far fetched: cell phones already have GPS signaling built in for emergency calls. It’s obvious that autodriving systems will be GPS-linked in their next generation. Coupled with GPS, a car’s sensors could enable it to self-navigate from a parking space to pick you up - very handy in a rainstorm!

What about reduced visibility, such as fog or heavy rain? Obviously for radar that’s little or no problem (depending on the radar’s wavelength) but what about this: couple GPS location detemining with RFID signaling from other vehicles and traffic-control devices such as traffic lights or roadway signs. Turn lanes could be designated by RFIDs, too.

If there will be self-driving cars then there will be self-crashing cars. Automakers will rethink making such cars when their legal departments start to figure out where tort law will go on this technology. And the lawyers will love it of a whole new field of case law is opened up.