Driverless? No, but how about the car as co-pilot?
(Bloomberg) — Some 17 years ago, the U.S. military kicked off the race to build a self-driving car by sending a fleet of fledgling robot vehicles across the Mojave Desert in its seminal 2004 Darpa challenge. The industry has made significant progress since, putting features like hands-free driving and crash-avoidance systems into mass-produced models. Such systems are making driving safer and easier than ever, although some notable crashes have led regulators to subject them to greater scrutiny. Meanwhile, the transition to completely autonomous, go-anywhere cars remains a distant goal.