More than three and a half thousand people are killed on the roads every single day – 50% of whom aren't travelling in cars at the time. So tell us again about those wonderful human reaction times and how awesome your driving is.

The reason tech firms from Motorola to Microsoft and transport planners are excited about autonomous cars is because taking driving out of human hands could be one of the most effective ways of saving lives since smallpox was eradicated.

Google's cars have already proved themselves safer than human drivers, with just two minor accidents on record. One was the fault of the human driver, who had taken temporary control, the other was a rear-end shunt while the robot car was stationary.

By continually drawing 3D maps taken from lots of sensors and comparing them against each other in real-time, the promise of robot cars are vehicles that are so aware of their surroundings it's almost impossible to crash into them. The theory is that autonomous cars are vehicles that are better at keeping following distances, don't shoot red lights and can brake harder, faster and more safely when they detect danger around them.

Oh, and without human interference there'd be no chancing it with split second red lights or undertaking to worry about. And since there'd be bunching up on motorways and creating pointless traffic bottlenecks, or heavy feet to stamp on the accelerator, traffic would move faster, more efficiently and use less fuel too. Keeping traffic flowing safely and smoothly would also negate the effect that gridlock and traffic jams have on local economies too. At least, that's the theory.