Perhaps, therefore, it is a mark of how far autonomous vehicles have come in recent years – and the growing confidence of those championing driverless cars – that public trials are moving from expansive private estates with few people around to busy and sometimes challenging public highways.

The other week TP took part in the latest showcase of autonomous driving from a community centre in Kidbrooke, hosted by the 'Project Endeavour' team including software firm Oxbotica, urban innovation company DG Cities, future mobility specialist Immense and transport research firm TRL. The eight kilometre journey in one of six modified Ford Mondeos thankfully passed off without a hitch. But there were moments when all was not as smooth as might have been expected.

Occupying the front seats were safety driver Mark – there to take control of the car should the need arise – and his passenger Steve with a laptop depicting a live graphical representation of the road ahead. Little squares of yellow and white darted about the screen in time to the movement of the vehicles, with points of possible conflict flashing up too.

Our vehicle was equipped with cameras, lidar and radar technology giving 360 degree vision. Out on the road the car glided along, obediently sticking to the 30mph limit as we joined the South Circular. At all times the car is considering three things, it was explained: where is it, what is around it and what it needs to do next.

It was evident from the test drive that the vehicle performed admirably on the first two points, but there may be a little way to go before the third point can be answered emphatically in the affirmative. On one occasion, Steve was heard to tell Mark “you will have to take control now; it doesn’t like the digger and cones” as up ahead we spotted a piece of highway maintenance plant occupying the carriageway’s nearside behind temporary traffic management. As a cautionary measure, control was handed to the driver who ensured that the obstacle was passed safely.

Several minutes later a motor scooter was detected just behind us. I glanced out of the rear window to watch the scooter which gave the impression it may be about to overtake. But it held its position, just metres behind the car. Quickly it was decided that the driver should take control again. “The car didn’t like it being as close as that,” it was explained.

And a little way along the road a delivery van was parked up, something which an experienced human driver would have little problem negotiating. But the vehicle seemed a little twitchy and a tad uncertain as we approached.

It was also said that if a vehicle was to pull out in front of the driverless car, it might brake slightly harder than a human might; something which seemingly happens more often in the capital than elsewhere. “When we carried out a trial in Oxford recently we used to leave a three metre gap to the vehicle in front and it was never a problem,” Steve explained. “But in London drivers tend to nip into that gap, so we have had to reduce the distance the car leaves to the one in front.”

Back in the Kidbrooke car park where we started, Oxbotica’s senior vice president Graeme Smith explained that Project Endeavour takes forward various trials in recent years at sites including Greenwich and Stratford. Today’s tests, he explained, demonstrate the concept of ‘pop up autonomy’ where the aim is to “go to a new place, deploy a fleet of autonomous vehicles into a fairly complicated environment and make it work”.

It is, he thinks, at least 15 years before motorists will see fully autonomous cars on their driveways but low speed ‘shuttles’ or ‘robo taxis’ are more likely to be seen sooner in certain locations. Judging by my experience, motorists are unlikely to be replaced en masse on busy roads by autonomous vehicles any time soon.

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