Smart vehicles could be about to get a lot more aware thanks to a new breakthrough by Google.

The search giant, which has been heavily involved in developing intelligent autos, has filed a patent that will allow its smart cars to get out of the way of police and other emergency vehicles.

Google says that this will help cut down on delays for emergency first-responders, and reduce the possible risk of crashes involving its cars.

The patent allows the Google car to use special filters to detect the red and blue flashing lights used by emergency services when speeding to an incident.

The service will then also define whether the lights are flashing or not, and will even be able to identify which form of vehicle is approaching by noting the spacing of the lights.

If this is the case, the device will then make the car “yield in response”, moving it out of the way of the emergency vehicle, although it will take steps to ensure it does not drive itself into a tree or off a bridge.

Google has been working on its smart vehicle project for some time, with testing of the cars being carried out on the roads around its Mountain View headquarters in California. 

However the cars have not enjoyed a completely smooth ride in testing, being involved in several incidents so far.

Last month, a company test vehicle was involved in a damaging collision in California after being rear-ended by another car, although Google’s auto was not to blame.

Earlier this year, another of the company’s vehicles was involved in another collision when it drove into the side of a bus after being confused by its surroundings.

Google cars have been involved in nearly a dozen collisions in or around Mountain View since starting to test on city streets in the spring of 2014. 

In most cases, Google’s cars were rear-ended, and no one has been seriously injured.