This, at least, is the vision of the future as seen by Paul Levi who researches with super computers at the University of Stuttgart in Germany.

He has already developed a car together with the industry which will drive independently from Paris to Berlin, or manoeuver its way through busy rush-hour traffic.

``I am certain we will have a completely autonomous car by the year 2002,'' said Levi.

The passenger would merely have to instruct the car of the target address. No steering would be necessary, no braking, no navigating with map in hand and no road rage. The car would independently find the shortest route, stop at red lights and keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front.

At bottlenecks it would communicate with neighbouring cars to find the best way out of the jam. And if the other cars or central advisory stations werewrong and the motorway was still full, it would find individual alternatives.

The car of the future will not only be a means of transport, but also a mobile office. Forgotten important documents at home? No problem, the on-board computer will have them transmitted. You will also be able to turn on the dishwasher at home, programme the household robot or a book a hotel. An internal camera would identify the driver to receive and execute his commands.

``The auto industry wants the autonomous car,'' said Levi. Many inner-city drivers are preoccupied with looking for parking. In future, a central guidance headquarters could store drivers' destinations and redirect them in case all car-parks were full.

``Rising traffic volumes will make it inevitable that cars are centrally directed,'' Levi believes. Traffic jams will be a thing of the past.

Co-operation between cars is also important in dangerous situations, he said. Speeding in fog would no longer be possible. Radar systems, ultrasound sensors, laserscanners, digital radio signals and many other devices could all help dramatically to reduce the accident toll.

Yet technology still has a long way to go to enable all this, Levi said. The first step will be to improve already existing safety systems such as those ensuring that cars keep a secure distance from vehicles ahead of them. The next step will be the introduction of auto pilots which could do their own driving. The third step will be to let cars make their own decisions altogether.

But even if the technical solutions are at hand at an affordable price, will people be ready to let their car take over without being able to react themselves in dangerous situations? ``I think they will have to,'' said Levi. ``Blocked roads and too many accidents will leave them no choice.''

Yet will people accept that their car has its own idea of socially correct behaviour in certain situations? Levi: ``people will have to learn to co-operate with machines and even to allow them to gain the upper hand. Thiscertainly will be a difficult process.''