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Self-driving vehicles would, of course, dispense with the anxieties of driving, freeing their occupants to read, browse digital content or simply rest, while simultaneously eradicating the accidents that stem from human fallibility.
The advantages would extend (9) .......... mere comfort and safety, however, since autonomous vehicles would also transform urban transport and city planning as we know them. Traffic signals and conventional road markings would no (10) .......... be required. Independently operated vehicles sharing the road would be capable of coordinating their movements and travelling (11) .......... close formation, ensuring an uninterrupted flow of traffic, (12) .......... journeys faster and the use of road infrastructure considerably more efficient. On the one hand, this might result in cities expanding outward, as a (13) .......... of sharply reduced commuting times; on the (14) .........., urban cores might grow denser, reclaiming the land previously surrendered to roads and car parks.
It may all sound (15) .......... science fiction, yet a substantial proportion of the technology required to convert a conventional vehicle into a self-driving one is already commercially available. By now, almost (16) .......... major automotive manufacturer is developing systems that will, in effect, transform the family car into a fully autonomous robot.