How autonomous emergency braking in cars can save lives

Of course the future will bring further refinements, spurred on by the fact that the laser, radar and camera tech is getting useably cheap. Toyota has a system that sticks another couple of sensors on the front corners of the car, pointing outward to check for passing traffic at junctions.

Linking with the satnav is another rich area of research, with US in-car entertainment expert Alpine experimenting with a system called Top View that combines cameras with map technology to assess, for example, if a car is going too fast into the next bend.

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Of course once you link ultra-fast, highly intelligent sensors with mapping, then driverless cars move closer to reality. In fact, this exactly what Google is trying to prove is possible with its sensor-festooned Toyota Prius hybrids testing in California. For most people though, the price of a standard emergency braking system will be repaid double the first time a warning beep snaps out of their reverie and alerts them to a stopped car ahead.