(Forbes) - For those of you that remember the "Jetsons," a 1960s TV staple, the family was jetted around their universe by auto-piloted flying saucers. Given that there was no traffic, there was also no hassle and zero issues with intergalactic drinking and driving.

Forty years ago, no one thought that we would be so close to the age of the self-driven car. In just a few years, according to Philip van Allen—a design consultant, researcher, technologist and educator who is a professor in the Media Design Practices MFA program at the Art Center College of design in Pasadena—we can expect to see self-driven cars on the road. Tests are already in the works.