Driverless cars gaining support

New York Times : Autonomous vehicles, which have already been legalized in California, Nevada, and Florida, may become commercially available nationwide within the decade. In the meantime, a few car manufacturers have started implementing some semiautonomous features, such as the ability to stay centered in driving lanes and adjust speed based on the distance from the car ahead. Companies such as Google, which already has prototypes on the road, tout the safety benefits, but others have voiced concern that such vehicles could be compromised by computer hackers. In a statement issued this week, the US Department of Transportation endorsed the testing of autonomous vehicles, but added that “self-driving vehicle technology is not yet at the stage of sophistication or demonstrated safety capability that it should be authorized for use by members of the public for general driving purposes.”