Honda demonstrates Sensing technology

Honda Sensing technology employs a forward-facing camera near the review mirror and a radar beneath the front bumper to know when the car needs to break, to slow down and speed up with the flow of traffic while using cruise control, and to stay within one's lane or on the roadway when traveling faster than 45 mph. It's intended for the open road and not city streets, according to a Honda spokesperson.

Honda is careful not to use the term "autonomous" when describing its Honda Sensing technology, portraying it instead as another tool to assist the driver.

Other car makers also offer semi-autonomous driving systems -- some more sophisticated than Honda's -- but not at the price point of a Civic equipped with this technology, which starts at less than $21,000. That allows consumers to at least imagine a future where every vehicle on the road can drive itself.