Driverless cars are swiftly becoming a viable possibility for the near future. They are capable of outperforming many human drivers, as well as being able to return control to the driver in the case of a more complex situation that requires more thought than the car can handle. This duality is the main factor that makes self-driving cars appear to be a good plan for the future of transportation. The car is manageable and not overriding the human input, and yet it still mantains a feeling of helpfulness and convenience.

When it comes to transport automation, control over the process, and the ability to halt or override it, is a chief concern. A system that controls itself and denies all outside input cannot sustain itself for long. That is why, to quote the passage, "Google cars are not truly driverless; they still alert the driver to take over when pulling in and out of driveways or dealing with complicated traffic issues." In short, the car is not perfect, and therefore has to fall back on the driver's help in some situations. This prevents crashes due to the car's incapability to surpass a unique situation on the road, as well as promoting driver awareness even when the car is operating itself. By doing this, the self-driving car model itself promotes safety and good road etiquette.

While the car may not be able to do everything a human driver can, it has proven to be much better at the tasks it can do than an average driver. The cars provide "far better response and control than a human driver could manage alone." This can be coupled with the fact that these vehicles are being constantly upgraded in order to allow for "more and more [automated] driving tasks." Perhaps in the future there will come a car that is capable of doing every driver task there is, leaving the driver to sit back and relax.

In conclusion, while the industry has yet to truly take off, self-driving cars are a definite viability for the future of human transport. They provide comfort in the fact that you are in control, and they also perform better than most human drivers would on average. Overall, they promote a higher level of altertness and safety than the average modern vehicle. These facts together provide a strong argument in favor of the autonomous, or self-driving, cars of tomorrow.