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Imagine playing a board game with your mom as she drives you to school．Wait! Shouldn’t your mom keep her hands on the wheel and her eyes on the road? Not if she’s driving a computer-controlled car down a high-tech highway of the future．
Someday, moms may be able to do it．In 1997, scientists and engineers tested new computer-controlled cars that drove themselves along a special high-tech highway called a “smartway”．Computers in the cars used information from magnets(磁鐵), light sensors, and radar detectors built into the smartway．
Scientists hope that drivers of the future will simply drive up to a smartway, then switch on the car’s automated(自動的)driver．The human driver will sit back and enjoy the ride．A computer system will do the rest．Satellites and magnets will help instruct the car along the highway．Sensors will make the car drivers know other cars nearby．The car’s central computer will process information and instruct the car what to do．For example, if a car is too close to the car in front of it, the computer will tell it to slow down or change lanes．When the car’s human driver decides to exit the smartway, he or she will take over the controls and return to the regular highway．
Engineers hope the smartways will save time for commuters and cut down the number of car accidents and traffic jams．Most accidents are caused by human error, according to the U．S．Department to Transportation．Computer-controlled cars should eliminate(消除)those kinds of accidents because a computer, not a human, will decide what the car will do next．
But some car makers aren’t sure the smartway will be the safest way to travel．What would happen if a deer jumped into the road? Or if the car’s computer broke down? Engineers are trying to answer these questions now．
Until they find the answers, your mom will have to keep her eyes on the road．
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