Jesse Levinson does not much worry about this when he drives his prototype Volkswagen Passat around the Stanford University campus here.
A computer vision system he helped design keeps an unblinking eye out for pedestrians and cyclists, and automatically slows and stops the car when they enter his path.
Someday soon, few drivers will have to worry about car crashes and collisions, whether on congested roads or on empty highways, technology companies and car manufacturers are betting. But even now, drivers are benefiting from a suite of safety systems, and many more are in development to transform driving from a manual task to something more akin to that of a conductor overseeing an orchestra.
An array of optical and radar sensors now monitor the surroundings of a growing number of cars travelling the highways, and in some cases even track the driver's physical state. Pedestrian detection systems, like the one that Dr Levinson, a research scientist at Stanford's Center for Automotive Research, has helped design, are already available in luxury cars and are being built into some midrange models.
The systems offer auditory, visual and mechanical warnings if a collision is imminent — and increasingly, if needed, take evasive actions automatically. By the middle of this decade, under certain conditions, they will take over the task of driving completely at both high and low speeds.
"This is really a bridge," said Ragunathan Rajkumar, a computer science professor who is leading a Carnegie Mellon University automated driving research project partly financed by General Motors. "The driver is still in control. But if the driver is not doing the right thing, the technology takes over."
Although drivers — at least for now — remain responsible for their vehicles, a host of related legal and insurance issues have already arisen, and researchers are opening a new line of study about how humans interact with the automatic systems.
Volvo, BMW, Audi and Mercedes have announced that as soon as this year they will begin offering models that will come with sensors and software to allow the car to drive itself in heavy traffic at speeds up to 37 miles per hour. The systems, known as Traffic Jam Assist, will follow the car ahead and automatically slow down and speed up as needed, handling both braking and steering.
At faster speeds, Cadillac's Super Cruise system is intended to automate freeway driving by keeping the car within a lane and adjusting speed to other traffic. The company has not said when it will add the system to its cars.
Already actions like steering, braking and accelerating are increasingly handled by computer software rather than the driver.
Ten automakers have advanced research laboratories based in Silicon Valley. The most recent one was established by Ford Motors in Mountain View, California, in June.
The actions of drivers, too, are being rethought. When drivers are no longer required to maintain a constant vigil on the road ahead at all times, it will still be necessary to reclaim their attention in emergencies. Dr Rajkumar said he would welcome an automated car for his 30-minute commute home. If the car could drive itself, he said, he would happily take a short nap.
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