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　　Recently I was asked,“Are we anywhere near the day when you can climb into a car on Long Island, program it to take you to your niece's house in Chicago, hit enter, and after the first hundred yards, once you hit a main road, the car takes over automatically and you just sit back and enjoy the ride?”

　　It is a question I worry．But I had to answer truthfully,“Absolutely．We are without a doubt near that day．”Look, we're already doing it with airplanes．

　　Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk takes off at an air base in the U．S．, climbs to 50,000 feet, flies to Australia, and lands at an Australian air base, where there is a grandstand filled with military officials－with no human pilot．

　　The necessary technology is already here．We have radar technology that can be tied to cruise(巡航)control and brakes, which automatically adjusts(调整)your speed based on following distance and preprogrammed settings．It's still a little bit raw, but it does work great．The technology can allow cars and trucks to follow each other in very closely spaced roads．

　　GPS can also change speed with location．Let's say you're in a state with a 75－mph limit and you cross into a state with a 65－mph limit．GPS knows that and can adjust your speed accordingly．

　　It's not out of the question to imagine that someday soon you'll be able to start the car, make proper settings, then turn the front seats around and play cards and eat lunch as if you're riding on a train．All in perfect comfort and safety, all the way to that niece's place in Chicago．

　　If asked to estimate just how far time is, I'd say a working system is ten years out, practice maybe 20 years．

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