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What seemed wacky and even impossible a few years ago is gradually becoming reality. After getting the green light in May 2012 to hit the road in Nevada, the Google self-driving car was allowed to – under certain conditions – travel on some roads in California as of late September. Google co-founder Sergey Brin said Google will have autonomous cars available for the general public within the next five years.

Whether people are for or against it, the trend of automated vehicles is here to stay. Moreover, several models of intelligent vehicles are already available on the market, including cars that park themselves, adjust their speed according to the vehicle ahead, slow down or change direction when a collision appears imminent.

Members of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) have forecasted that driverless vehicles are the most promising form of intelligent transportation. They added that they will account for up to 75 percent of cars on the road by 2040.

Although the technology is evolving, two factors come to curb the mass production of these automated vehicles. The first is economic, the second social. Manufacturers will have to find a way to make these vehicles affordable despite high production costs due to technology. They must also convince drivers to delegate more control of their vehicle to an on-board computer, hence the importance of developing vehicles that offer more security.

Despite the fact that on May 7, Google became the first to get a license for a vehicle without a driver, similar requests are currently emanating from Detroit automakers as well as Asian manufacturers. In Germany, the Continental Automotive Group is performing tests in order to obtain the same rights as Google.

Unlike Google’s attempt at a self-driving vehicle which called for sophisticated and expensive equipment, Continental’s take on the self-driving vehicle would be more of a semi-autonomous version that they are hoping would be a more affordable and a shorter-term solution using their own technology. They have taken a Volkswagen Passat and replaced its brake and steering controls with sensors and technology that would allow the vehicle to analyze its surroundings and drive accordingly.

Nowadays, most of the major automakers are working on prototypes more or less automated. This is the case of GM, BMW and Audi who invest heavily in research and development of tomorrow’s cars. The newest model of GM Cadillac XTS is equipped with sensors, radars and cameras scanning 360 degrees to prevent accidents. Like Continental Automotive Group, General Motors plans to market models of semi-autonomous vehicles by 2015.

Although it is impossible to guess at the exact impacts on the collision repair industry at this juncture, it is sure that computer-driven vehicles will impact the industry in one way or another. Although its technology is still unproven, Google has traveled over 480,000 miles without accidents, and they now have 12 driverless cars on the road.

It remains to be seen how these vehicles will perform in Canada. Tested under more lenient conditions, cameras, sensors and lasers have not yet passed the test of snow, ice and slush! This reality will certainly throw a wrench in the plans of automakers, who, despite all the technological considerations, have not perhaps taken into consideration the full scope of Mother Nature’s whims.