Just imagine how many lives can save a self-driving car, as well as lower the enery cost.

Well, Google is developing one, according The NYT. It is a Toyota Prius which has a device on roof and it uses artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car and mimic the decisions made by a human driver.

Seven test cars have driven 1,000 miles without human intervention and more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control.

Engineers say that robot drivers react faster than humans, have 360-degree perception and do not get distracted, sleepy or intoxicated.

As The New York Times writes, "the Google research program using artificial intelligence to revolutionize the automobile is proof that the company's ambitions reach beyond the search engine business."

However, Google says they don't have yet a clear plan to create a business from the experiments.

In addition, experts say that deployment of the technology is more than eight years away.