Update on self-driving cars

http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2013-09/google-self-driving-car

Thought you'd enjoy this article above. Self-driven cars have logged 500,000 miles already, proving they're at least as safe as human drivers. The system currently costs $100,000 but economies of scale will drop that to affordable levels. Traffic will move faster, drivers will arrive more refreshed, fuel economy will increase. 

Currently, glitches occur once every 300 miles, and self-driven cars are estimated to drive 36,000 miles before making a severe (close call) mistake requiring driver input. 

The whole research field was spurred ahead greatly by the DARPA challenge races.