"The primary goal of GM's autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicle development is safety, " Capp said.

ENGADGET: Cadillac road tests self-driving Super Cruise tech, could hit highways by mid-decade

Perhaps, rather alarmingly, Andy Capp is sometimes seen by Americans as part of a real Britain.

ECONOMIST: Reg Smythe | The

He is gone, but Andy Capp has at least another year to live.

ECONOMIST: Reg Smythe | The

Later, when the money rolled in, he, like Andy Capp, never had more than a pound or two in his pocket.

ECONOMIST: Reg Smythe | The

Various writers about the Andy Capp phenomenon have made the obvious link to Flo the mum, and Mr Smythe did not argue about it.

ECONOMIST: Reg Smythe, creator of Andy Capp, died on June 13th, aged 80

Andy Capp is reassuringly unchanging, living in a grimy north of England that no longer exists, wearing the sort of flat hat that is no longer common.

ECONOMIST: Reg Smythe, creator of Andy Capp, died on June 13th, aged 80

In industrial Britain, the mother was often the real boss, managing the home, minding the money and sometimes having an outside job as well, just as Flo Capp does.

ECONOMIST: Reg Smythe, creator of Andy Capp, died on June 13th, aged 80

If you grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, chances are you've seen his work in comics such as Famous Funnies, Buck Rogers, L'il Abner (which he ghosted for Al Capp) and Johnny Comet.

FORBES: Schwarzenegger's Sargent

Like Andy Capp, Mr Smythe came from Hartlepool.

ECONOMIST: Reg Smythe | The

The key to delivering semi-autonomous capability will be the integration of lane- centering technology that relies on forward-looking cameras to detect lane markings and GPS map data to detect curves and other road characteristics, said John Capp, General Motors director of Global Active Safety Electronics and Innovation.

ENGADGET: Cadillac road tests self-driving Super Cruise tech, could hit highways by mid-decade