Toyota executives promised last Thursday that by 2017, cars manufactured across the United States will have collision-prevention technology installed in its systems. The technology will be available in both mainstream and luxury vehicles.

However, the company stated that cars will still require the presence of a driver, so every vehicle currently being built and designed, still have a driver's seat.

Like Us on Facebook

Instead of a driver-less car, the technology is projected to be "a full-time back-seat driver". It allows that car to steer itself enough to stay in the center of a lane, monitor the eyes of the driver and, making sure that the driver's hands are on the steering wheel. This will allow the driver to focus on merely driving the vehicle without having to worry about other intricacies of having to operate a vehicle.

Other automotive companies also have lane-steering technology and driver monitoring systems, but they are only available in their more expensive models.

As new automated systems become more reliable, Toyota believes that there will be a gradual shift to cars doing more of the driving and, thus, making the experience of riding a car safer.

The company believes, however, that a driver-less car is more than a decade away from happening due to current technology limitations and possible legal issues. Unlike Google, the company doesn't believe cars should be without a driver.

"Toyota will not be developing a driverless car," Seigo Kuzumaki, the company's deputy chief safety technology officer, stated. Executives believe that some on-the-road situations still need human intervention.

Aside from the collision-prevention system, Toyota also plans to add a radar-activated cruise control system to all of its U.S. models by 2017.

Currently, only Toyota's luxury cars have the radar-activated cruise control system. Aside from adding the said technology to all its cars, the next-generation Toyota models will have a more sensitive radar that can see farther and react faster.