Driving is something most teenagers wait for eagerly. Hours are spent stuck behind the wheel, hair is nearly yanked out in frustration, but in the end, that shiny little permit (and soon-to-be license) makes it all worth it.  

But; what’s the deal with self-driving cars? Will teenagers ever be able to play videogames while the car drives smoothly in auto-pilot? Wouldn’t it be nice to a watch a Harry Potter movie, work on some homework, or type away on a computer without driving into a pole?

Self-driving vehicles are closer than America thinks. In fact, Tesla has already developed a car that has the autopilot feature. Driver’s aren’t yet able to take a nap while the car does all of the work. It can’t recognize stop lights or stop signs, so the driver still has to stay alert and ready to support the system. Tesla estimates that this car will be ready for sale at the end of 2017 and the fully autonomous Tesla car should be available in the next three years!

America has been experimenting on automating cars since the 1920’s, it’s about time for a self-driving car to be edging closer to greedy hands (and full wallets). And, Tesla isn’t the only company to be working on self-driving cars. BMW, Google, Ford and many others are racing to get this science-fiction-like idea on the market.

Maybe one day America as a whole will be able to safely and comfortably travel from destination to destination without a second glance at the road. Maybe teenagers could get a couple extra minutes of shut-eye in the last place most expected to find it: the car.  Or maybe this fad is one that will fade away before we can lay eyes on it. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.