In this country, Jaguar and Land Rover are testing something called ‘connected cars’, which can communicate with each other using technology designed to speed up journeys and reduce accidents. These cars are able to warn drivers when another connected vehicle brakes suddenly and can monitor traffic signals to encounter fewer red lights, as well as regulating car speed. So for the time being, there’ll still be the need for a driver.

However, truly driverless cars are currently being developed by more than 33 companies including Google, Apple, Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Ford – so it won’t be long until we see them.

In a filing with the California Department of Motor Vehicles, Google revealed that human beings (remember them?) have had to take the wheel of its driverless cars 341 times in more than 14 months at avoid accidents and software failures. Until these flaws get ironed out, the machines won’t be taking over our motorways just yet. 

In California – where a lot of the technology is being developed – the Department of Motor Vehicles is pushing for regulations that would require driverless cars to retain a steering wheel and licensed driver as a backup should something go wrong. However, Google believes these requirements would actually make the cars less safe by enabling passengers to override the autonomous system’s decisions. That’s rather a lot of faith that Google is putting in their machines.

As lovely as the idea sounds, driverless cars are unlikely to be fitted with anything close to a conversational function. American startup Drive.ai is at the forefront of developing how driverless cars would communicate with other drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. Rather than ‘speaking’, its cars would use banners, text and easily identifiable sounds to alert us to confusing road situations. Sorry to disappoint. 

Experts are predicting that the first people to use driverless cars would be baby-boomers, with companies such as Google and Uber targeting those who find easy mobility more challenging than your average iPhone-wielding millennial. The reason? Driverless cars will help improve the lives of those with mobility issues. 

Google is testing its cars against unpredictable behaviour including three cars going the wrong way at an intersection, an onslaught of people crossing their path and a grandma in a wheelchair chasing a duck in the road.

Yeah, you heard us right. Essentially, Google is giving cars the capability to ‘see’ unfamiliar happenings on the road rather than just teaching machines how to handle a set list of circumstances. So in theory, its driverless car should be able to ‘respond’ to anything in its path.

In the long term, fully autonomous vehicles could help make the roads safer and there might be little need for car insurance . But for the next few years as cars become more autonomous, there would likely be a period of confusion for motorists.

The Association of British Insurers is calling for carmakers to provide more data to show who was at fault in accidents (and there have been a few) involving driverless vehicles. The UN body that agrees international regulations on vehicle safety is due to bring in new rules on data collection in 2019, and the insurers are hoping to influence that process.

In the US, a federal report has warned that cybersecurity breaches and software bugs would be the main causes of driverless car crashes, so the process is unlikely to be faultless any time soon. In other words, you’ll need to be insured.

Hyperloop One, a company with $92 million in funding, has an agreement with Russia to build a hyperloop in Moscow.

Anyone fancy a trip? Well, in the meantime, check out deals on your car insurance, right here.