States get ready for the self-driving car revolution

Self-driving cars could be on our roads in just 5 years. USA TODAY's Chris Woodyard takes a look at what it's going to take to get the roads ready. Self-driving vehicles are synonymous with sophisticated sensors producing terabytes of data being analyzed by powerful computers. But it seems the success of this transportation revolution hinges on a decidedly low-tech material: Paint. That's because when it comes to getting the nation's infrastructure ready for autonomous traffic, the most critical upgrade amounts to making sure the lines on our 4 million miles of roads are solid, bright and preferably white so they can be picked up by computer vision gear. "The (self-driving car companies) actually said make sure you have really good paint lines," says Kirk Steudle, director of Michigan's Department of Transportation.