While it seems that autonomous vehicles are on the way, regardless of industry apprehension, it seems there could be one very Aussie obstacle 'standing' in the way.
According to the ABC, the humble kangaroo is causing nightmares for driverless car developers, as the technology is unable to keep up with our native animal's erratic behaviour.
Due to most developers' technology relying on the ground as a mean of detecting approaching obstacles, the hopping movement of a kangaroo makes it difficult to assess the distance it is from the vehicle.
Volvo Australia's technical manager David Pickett said there were many elements to compensating for roo movement.
"When it's in the air it actually looks like it's further away, then it lands and it looks closer.
"First we have to start identifying the roo.
"We identify what a human looks like by how a human walks, because it's not only the one type of human - you've got short people, tall people, people wearing coats. The same applies to a roo."
Figures released by the NRMA revealed that more than 16,000 accidents involving roos occur each year.
Pickett said that the issue should not hinder the release of driverless vehicles in Australia, yet the problem needed to be solved before they were rolled out.
Australian Driverless Vehicle Initiative executive director Rita Excell said roos weren’t the only issue however, with Australia's unsealed roads and unmarked highways also proving to be an issue.
Excell highlighted that while many issues still needed to be addressed before driveless cars hit our roads, some projects were far closer to release than the public might be aware of.