A future containing self-driving cars is not very far away according to internet giant Google, which already has a prototype on the streets.

In a new post on the company's official blog, the search engine provider showed off the software it has created and is testing in cars on the streets of Mountain View, California, where the company is based.

Chris Urmson, director of the self-driving car project at Google said: "Since our last update, we've logged thousands of miles on the streets of our hometown of Mountain View. A mile of city driving is much more complex than a mile of freeway driving, with hundreds of different objects moving according to different rules of the road in a small area.


A self-driving car is just one of the futuristic projects that Google is working on as part of the company's X Lab - which is where Google Glass, the company's wearable headset that links with your smartphone, originated.

The technology firm is also experimenting with weather balloons that contain WiFi signal in order to bring internet access to remote parts of the world. Facebook has also announced plans for a similar project involving remotely-piloted drones.

"Our vehicles have now logged nearly 700,000 autonomous miles, and with every passing mile we're growing more optimistic that we're heading toward an achievable goal - a vehicle that operates fully without human intervention", said Chris Urmson, who claimed that the company's computers are able to comfortably predict what happens on city streets.

The self-driving car project has been in existence for four years, and came as a response to World Health Organisation figures which reported that more than one million people are killed in road traffic accidents each year.