Also known as self-driving cars, robotic cars, piloted cars and autonomous cars, they are going to revolutionize travel, transportation, cities, life itself and eliminate a giant fear almost all elders share.

Unfortunately, it probably won't happen in time for me to benefit, but that doesn't mean I'm not excited about it all.

You wouldn't know it from mainstream media, but Google does not have a monopoly on these cars.

On Saturday, Audi's self-driving car left California and traveled 550 miles on public highways to Las Vegas to be there for the opening of this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) yesterday. The trip, reported Digital Trends,

”...takes place in two states that have explicitly legalized the testing of autonomous cars on public roads, eliminating any potential problems with the law.

“Nicknamed Jack, the 'piloted' (Audi’s term) self-driving A7 can do a lot on its own, but still needs human control in certain situations.

“However, the prototype can initiate lane changes and accelerate and brake autonomously. That means it can pass other vehicles on a highway without any intervention from the meat puppet in the driver’s seat.”

Beginning this week and continuing for 18 to 36 months, four locations in England will host tests of self-driving cars from a consortium that involves Ford, General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover and additional consultancies in various developmental roles. The BBC quoted Tim Armitage of the engineering firm, Arup:

"Our plan with the practical demonstration phases is to start testing with single vehicles on closed roads, and to build up to a point where all road users, as well as legislators, the police and insurance companies, are confident about how driverless pods and fully and partially autonomous cars can operate safely on UK roads,”

And of course, Google is moving forward with their driverless car, testing it in the San Francisco Bay area. Just recently, they let some everyday consumers try out a prototype. I've shown you this video before, but watch it again anyway – the enthusiasm is good to see:

Reporter Clive Thompson, in a story in the December 2014 issue of Smithsonian about how the horseless carriage revolutionized personal transportation more than a century ago, described what he believes this newest auto revolution might be like:

”Equipped with an array of sensors that scan nearby traffic and pedestrians with laserlike precision, a GPS-brokered sense of the road, and a slew of algorithms frantically working to avoid collisions, these cars – Google hopes – are the future of driving...

“Passengers could read, nap, watch movies or pick away on a laptop; new forms of car-sharing might emerge, since a vehicle could drop you off and then zip itself over a few blocks to pick someone else up. Cars could be stand-alone couriers. Indeed, we might see many cars empty of any humans at all...”

“...And if it comes to pass...”

Unlike Clive, I have no doubt driverless cars are on the way. At this point, it is just a matter of technology and the difficulties are certain to be worked out over time.

One of the biggest speed bumps appears to be insurance. Governments, insurance companies, actuaries, lawyers, car manufacturers and all kinds of others are quite busy trying to figure out who pays when something goes wrong – as inevitably will happen, except probably not as many crashes or injuries as nowadays.

Like the cars themselves, it will fall into place.

For me, who spends a lot of time thinking about all things aging, the most exciting part of driverless cars is that one day in the not too terribly distant future, no elder (or anyone else) will need to worry ever again about losing his or her independence the day he or she can no longer safely drive.

Aside from certain possible health problems, it is the single thing that frightens me most about my future.

UPDATE 5AM WEDNESDAY: An early report from the first day at CES in Las Vegas Tuesday aprovides more information about the proliferation of driverless cars.

"Raj Nair, the chief technical officer and global product chief at Ford, said at the International CES that he expected some manufacturer to introduce a completely autonomous vehicle — one that requires zero human intervention — within five years."

If the implication is supposed to be that you will be able to buy one in 2020 and drive it (well, let it drive you) anywhere, I doubt it. But, they're all working hard on the project. Ten automakers are exhibiting driverless cars of the future at CES - Volkswagen, Toyota and BMW among them.

However, the entire New York Times report, written by Molly Wood, concentrates only on the gee whiz aspects without a word about safety and usefulness. You can read the entire piece here.

At The Elder Storytelling Place today, Wendl Kornfeld: Permission to Die