geekosystem

Though a self-driving car has yet to come to market, some of the core concepts like systems to alert you when you're moving out of your lane, or cruise control that responds to traffic, are already here. As part of our ongoing sponsored content series with Lincoln, we take a look at what could be the biggest advance in personal transportation since the car.

Commuters looking to get from point A to point B are generally given two options with unique advantages and disadvantages: Drive yourself to your destination, or rely on public transportation to get you there. Though driving yourself  in your own car is private and more convenient, public transit is cheaper and better for the environment. However, a car that could drive itself would offer an intriguing third possibility, and it might be much closer than you think.

At this week's TED 2011 conference, Google has been inviting attendees to take a spin inside its self-driving cars. Search Engine Land's Danny Sullivan managed to take a short video of his ride. Yesterday at TED, Sebastian Thrun, the Google engineer heading up the project, shared his personal motivation in researching self-driving cars: When he was 18, his best friend died in a car accident, and since then he "has dedicated himself to saving a million lives a year by eradicating driver error." (via Search Engine Land)