At Level 1, a computer can control either steering or acceleration/braking, but it is not programmed to do both at the same time.

ey perform all safety-critical driving functions and monitor all roadway conditions for the duration of the trip — while working in operational design domain (ODD).

driver still has to be doing the driving and paying attention to the road

Level 3 expects that the user only has to intervene whenever the car is not able to handle a situation and asks for the user to take over

The different levels are important because they "change the risk profile of the car,

the biggest demarcation is between Levels 3 and 4." He's focused on getting Ford straight to Level 4, since Level 3, which involves transferring control from car to human, can often pose difficulties. "We're not going to ask the driver to instantaneously intervene—that's not a fair proposition,

"driver is disengaged from physically operating the vehicle by having his or her hands off the steering wheel AND foot off pedal at the same time," according to the SAE. The driver must still always be ready to take control of the vehicle, however.

five different levels of autonomous driving

Innovations in this field are also poised to completely change the car insurance industry by reducing accidents—a new report predicts that accidents will drop by 80% by 2040.

promise that this will lower the cost of hailing a ride to the point where it becomes cheaper than actually owning a personal vehicle.

NBC News the group expects to see drivers remain onboard most trucks “as a failsafe,” for the foreseeable future, much as two pilots remain aboard commercial airliners, even though many are now so automated they could take off, fly, and land robotically

And the number has been rising fast as more and more freight takes to the road. Trucks are expected to handle 10.73 billion tons of goods this year, or two-thirds of the nation’s total, according to the ATA, with the figure forecast to grow a compounded 3 percent annually over the next five years. To handle that load, trucking companies need to recruit about 90,000 new drivers annually, but the trade group predicts the industry will fall 50,000 short of its goal this year, a trend that has been growing worse since the economy began to recover.

The shortage of drivers is “a huge inducement for the development of autonomous and fully driverless trucks (and other vehicles),”

mated cars will lead to a sharp increase in the average miles traveled by a given vehicle. Key barriers to hopping in a car–fatigue, age or intoxication, to name a few–will disappear,

Beyond changed driving patterns, simple technology advances will reduce the environmental toll of automated cars. Most important, engineers say that the largely accident-free vehicles can eliminate safety equipment, such as antilock brakes and airbags, that has increased the weight–and fuel consumption–of vehicles. Automated cars can also travel closer together, allowing them to take advantage of aerodynamics. Trucking fleets are already trying to take advantage of this fuel-saving measure.

One report from the Department of Energy found that automated vehicles could reduce fuel consumption for passenger cars by as much as 90%, or increase it by more than 200%.

These advances promise relief to drivers sick of two-hour commutes and bumper-to-bumper traffic,

Workers may choose to live even further away from the office, opting to sleep in the car or use that time to squeeze in a workout

that figure will be key to addressing man-made climate change.

sponsoring locations.

“UberFree” features tailor-made routes and thoughtfully targeted stops.

Realtors could pay to have the cars drive slowly past featured properties for sale, past the nice new elementary school in the slightly more affluent neighborhood. At election time, a candidate’s campaign would route voters through run-down areas while a voice-over blames the opponent for this decline.

The same system that one day provides your ride may have access to, if not control over, your calendar, contacts, medical records, and holiday shopping lists.