Self-driving cars are coming, and the technology promises to save lives

Car crashes could be a thing of the past if car makers deliver on their promise to roll out autonomous cars over the next five years. But researchers are still questioning what this accident-free future might look like

Companies like Google and Tesla have held up autonomous vehicles as a panacea for road accidents, which claim over 32,000 American lives each year. This month, Obama put stock in that idea, signing a $305bn transportation bill that includes grants for self driving vehicles. That backs up 10 years of US Department of Transportation work on technical studies and policies surrounding autonomous cars.

But will all this investment and research actually result in a future free of car accidents?