The technology that will one day make it possible for driverless cars to operate on our roads is already well advanced, attendees at last week’s annual Victorian Transport Industry conference heard.

It exists in modern-day vehicles with features such as automated braking, electronic stability control and dynamic cruise control systems designed to make driving safer.

More advanced automated features such as autonomous steering, accelerating and lane guidance and even self-parking after the driver exits the car could be available within two years, from leading manufacturers such as Audi, Toyota and Nissan.

But the leap to fully autonomous vehicles will first require the approval of governments, which would have to pass laws to permit them to mix with everyday traffic, Mike Erskine, principal risk consultant at engineering firm GHD said.

Preparing Australia’s road network for self-driving cars will also cost $8 billion to $10 billion in project and operational costs, Mr Erskine predicted, but it would bring great social benefits in terms of lives saved and serious injuries avoided.

‘‘These are controls that will come into use in some form over the next 10 to 15 years and engineering controls, when developed well, usually have something like 10 times the reliability of what a person can do for a task,’’ Mr Erskine said.

Victoria’s road toll last year was 242, which was more than three-quarters lower than its peak of 1061 deaths in 1970. Mr Erskine predicted the toll could drop another 80 per cent, depending on how enthusiastically autonomous vehicles are embraced in Australia.

“Experts know human error is to blame for about 95 per cent of collisions on the roads,’’ he said.

Despite the collapse of Victoria’s car manufacturing industry, research into autonomous vehicle technology lives on here.

Global automotive parts manufacturer Bosch is using a Commonwealth grant to develop automatic braking technology at its Clayton plant as part of a project to end child driveway deaths.

Last decade, 60 children aged four and under were killed in car accidents around the home, Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics data shows. There were 483 serious injuries among children aged 0-14 between 2002-03 and 2009-10.

Bosch is developing a camera and radar-based system that can detect people behind a car and automatically apply the brakes.

Gavin Smith, president of Bosch Australia, said the project was spurred by “shocking reports” in the media of small children being run over in driveways. Though safeguards exist, there is scope to strengthen them.

“Today some cars have reverse sensors that will emit a beep; that’s a passive safety system. Reversing cameras show an object behind the car, but they’re still passive,” Mr Smith said. “What we want to do is provide an active safety system which would apply the brakes in a vehicle if you’re about to strike an object.’’

It is envisioned the system will be intelligent enough to differentiate between a pedestrian and an object there is no need to brake for, such as a plastic bag.