Tom Fedorowytsch reported this story on Thursday, November 5, 2015 12:52:20

ELEANOR HALL: If you're out on the road you may find this next story especially interesting.



This weekend, South Australia will hold the Southern Hemisphere's first test of a self-driving car .



As Tom Fedorowytsch reports from Adelaide.



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TOM FEDOROWYTSCH: That's the liberating potential of a self-driving car being touted by car maker Volvo.



The company is bringing an SUV to Adelaide's Southern Expressway for an Australian-first on-road test on Saturday.



But it may be a while before you can sit back in the driver's seat and catch up on that addictive novel or TV show.



RAJ RAJKUMAR: I guess when people say driverless cars, they think that you can get into the car, tell it to basically take you to work, take you to your destination for a vacation, sit back and relax.



That vision is the holy grail of the domain of self-driving cars. We are a long way from that, at least a couple of decades.



TOM FEDOROWYTSCH: Professor Raj Rajkumar from Carnegie Mellon University in the United States has travelled to Adelaide for a conference on driverless cars, starting today, that's coinciding with the trial.



RAJ RAJKUMAR: What the vehicle can do today and in the near future is drive itself on the highways, in a traffic jam, change lanes on a highway, park itself.



So parts of the journey will be automated but not the entire journey in the near future.



TOM FEDOROWYTSCH: Self-driving cars rely on sophisticated sensors and computers to navigate the roads.



In South Australia, laws have been introduced allowing car makers to test their vehicles.



However, Professor Rajkumar says they're not about to be sold to the public.



RAJ RAJKUMAR: Legislation I guess has not kept pace with changing technology, different states and different countries are beginning to introduce legislation to facilitate the testing of these autonomous cars.



None of them have really legislation the use of driverless cars without drivers in the driver's seat.



TOM FEDOROWYTSCH: Internet giant Google is developing its own driverless car, while the traditional manufacturers scramble for a piece of the action.



RAJ RAJKUMAR: All the global car makers are very interested in this space, because whoever gets to lead and dominate this technology will gain market share.



TOM FEDOROWYTSCH: So are Australian motorists keen to buy a self-driving car?



Car dealer Gordon Meek sells premium Italian cars not far from the testing site.



GORDON MEEK: I think when you're just looking at the way they'd interact with other straightforward traffic, just cars sitting in traffic jams, I think they'll cope with that.



But it's the things like pedestrians cutting through, like cutting through the traffic, a semi-trailer that's backing out of a driveway unexpectedly to do a U-turn or something, road works - that's the stuff that I just question how useful they're really going to be in the real world.



TOM FEDOROWYTSCH: At his dealership, the experience of driving is the ultimate selling point.



GORDON MEEK: For people for whom transport is just literally a device to get from A to B, maybe. but for the kind of people that buy our cars, they're after more of a, they're more involved with what they're busying and they want something that's more of an experience.



TOM FEDOROWYTSCH: There are surprisingly similar views from the self-driving car expert, Professor Rajkumar.



RAJ RAJKUMAR: It turns out that ironically I like to drive myself. And people complain that I have a lead foot. So when there's basically open roads, curvy roads, mountainous roads, you want to be at the wheel experiencing the joy of driving.



But on a day-to-day basis, when you go from home to work or from work to home, you are driving through congested traffic jams and that is not a pleasant experience to even the person who enjoys driving.



Imagine yourself basically taking the drudgery of driving, the day-to-day experiences, giving it all to a virtual chauffeur.



TOM FEDOROWYTSCH: Adelaide's Southern Expressway will be closed on Saturday for the trial, which will be streamed online.



ELEANOR HALL: Should be worth watching; that's Tom Fedorowytsch.