Our drive down Saadoon Street takes us to the Palestine Hotel.

CNN: A glimpse inside Iraq

By looking at the Street View images, drivers would get a better idea of what their destinations actually look like, making them easier to locate as they drive down the street.

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However, Tooru Futami, engineering director at electronics engineering development division at Nissan, told Forbes that the car was not yet able to self-drive down the street or park itself in any space.

BBC: Nissan car drives and parks itself at Ceatec

The idea is the car could drive itself down the street, find a parking spot and tuck itself in there -- and then return to you at the touch of a button.

ENGADGET: Nissan NSC-2015 self-driving car with LTE and smartphone connectivity (test-ride with video)

But Mr. Thrun and 12 engineers created a car that could drive itself down twisty Lombard Street without a human driver.

WSJ: The Weekend Interview With Sebastian Thrun: What's Next for Silicon Valley?

Somewhere near 53rd Street I remembered a saving grace: ECO mode, achieved by pushing and holding down the Drive knob in the center console.

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