The future of motoring: it's automated - What can we expect?

Instead of driverless cars, we may simply get more and more driver-assistance systems, many of which come into the domain of what is known as intelligent transport systems (ITS).

Brachmann of Honda says: 'A driverless vehicle could probably contribute to fewer accidents, less congestions and less pollution, but the question is whether it has to be driverless.

'Assisting functionalities already help improving safety in traffic to a vast extent.'

Nissan is working on a gamut of assistance systems that will integrate the car with its environment more effectively, reducing traffic and cutting car accidents.

One system uses the signal from mobile phones to locate pedestrians and allow warnings to be sent to the driver of the car.

Another monitors traffic flow and the amount of people waiting to cross the road, to maximise the efficiency and safety of the crossings.

Shinohara adds: 'One very strong technology is the ITS navigation system with communication between vehicles and a control centre.

'Traffic information can be gathered by many probe cars, so based on the high-density traffic information they give, we can provide very precise route guidance to avoid the congestion.'

Many of today's satellite navigation systems use traffic information on the Traffic Message Channel to avoid jams on major routes, but this more detailed level of information would be far more effective in co-ordinating traffic flow.

'This is a high impact technology for the very near future,' says Shinohara, 'and we have already started.'