You’ve seen the commercials for the cars that can park themselves with the push of a button. You’ve probably even seen the vehicles that can change lanes by themselves. But it looks like that’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as what vehicles will be able to do in the next decade.  A CNN.com article discusses five things a typical car will be able to do before long. And it might surprise you that none of those five things includes flying.

Predicting the Future
No, there probably won’t be crystal balls on the dashboards of modern vehicles in the year 2020, but cars will be more intuitive than they are now. Some analysts believe it will be standard for vehicles to look for possible dangers ahead so they can react instantaneously and avoid accidents. For instance, you car might be able to predict when pedestrians are crossing the streets even as they are merely approaching the intersections.

This isn’t witchcraft, either. But it does involve a high level of sophistication in the area of artificial intelligence. Vehicles will have hundreds of sensors, both short-range and long-range.

Also, vehicles of the future will work with video monitors at intersections. These monitors will be able to feed information into your vehicle’s computer system through a wireless network as far as 30 miles away. The car can then warn you about potential dangers coming up or even take action itself to avoid these dangers. Several major metropolitan cities already have this technology at many intersections, but it will be much more widespread by the time these vehicles hit the market.

You won’t find these features on your certified Ford for at least another decade. But there’s no reason you shouldn’t get one of these quality used Ford vehicles today. With a little TLC, it’ll last you until these new models come out and probably for several years afterwards.

Come back tomorrow for Part Two!