Which scares you more: Human error, or faceless robots?

You'll eventually have to pick a side. Eliminating error-prone human agency from the control of two-ton vehicles is the obsession of Google, Tesla and the world's biggest automakers. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has even gone so far as to suggest human drivers may eventually be outlawed, though he later clarified that his company would always welcome drivers.

Truly automated cars are nowhere near a reality today. But they will be one day, and so will the fireworks around all the biggest traditions in American society: freedom, driving, independence.

They're also going to be a really big headache: insurance companies, departments of motor vehicles and law enforcement around the country aren't yet ready. The world may not yet be ready.

A car that can pick you up

The promise of self-driving cars is always on its way but never quite there.

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year was dominated by Audi, BMW, Mercedes and others touting their plans for driverless cars. Google started hinting at partnering with major automobile manufacturers. Even Apple is rumored to be eyeing self-driving car technology.

Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced a major new software update that would bring a host of automated features to some of the company's existing cars, including the option to have your car pick you up (as long as you're on your private property); park itself; and drive for long stretches on highways.

Many publications excitedly declared that Tesla would be bringing "self-driving" cars to the road this summer. Tesla hinted that it could have done more, but instead stuck to a set of features only somewhat more advanced than those already available for the Mercedes-Benz S class and the Infiniti Q50.

Alexis Georgeson, a spokesperson for Tesla, declined to comment on how much the company's plans were limited by regulatory limitations rather than technical limitations other than to stress that "there is nothing in our autopilot systems that are in conflict with existing regulations."

"I think if we woke up tomorrow and all the regulations were in place to have autonomous vehicles, we could have functional autonomous vehicles in a matter of months," says Karl Brauer, an analyst with Kelley Blue Book. "It will ultimately be held up by lawyers and legislation, not by technology."

Looking at the hype, it quickly becomes evident that it's much easier for most of the industry to be bold when there's no firm release date.

Mercedes, for example, shows off fantastical renderings of how its "self-driving" F 015 vehicle could give drivers more leisure time, but the only year mentioned on the landing page is "2030."

2030. Plenty of time.

The rendering for the Mercedes-Benz F 015 driverless car.

An industry on 'autopilot'

In early 2011, Sebastian Thrun got on stage at the TED conference and opened up about how the death of a close childhood friend in a car accident caused him to develop driverless cars at Google.