What’s the 21st-century equivalent of Driving Miss Daisy? The autonomous, or driverless, car.

While autonomous cars aren’t yet commercially available, according to a recent article in Car and Driver, prototypes like the Autonomous Lexus LS Sedan that debuted at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Showcase are being used as “rolling test bed[s] for [new] active safety” features. Among these features: “car startup and drive-off; active safety systems to help avoid crashes; pre-crash systems designed to prepare for a collision; passive safety to help occupants survive a crash; and post-crash rescue and response.” The cars are usually equipped with an Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) tower mounted on their roofs. LIDAR, in addition to radar, GPS, and computer vision, allows the cars to detect other vehicles and adapt to road conditions.

Google secured the first license plate for an autonomous car from the state of Nevada in 2011, and the man behind the project believes driverless vehicles could actually lead to fewer car-related deaths, among other benefits.

Well-known car makers with prototypes in development include Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota, and Volvo. Many of these makers already offer semi-autonomous features in their vehicles, like adaptive cruise control and assisted parking.

So, when can you expect to spot driverless cars on the road? Most experts agree that won’t happen until 2020 at the earliest.