Car traffic simulation / automatic object movement

Hi all,
I'm very new to Second Life scripting (but I understand programming basics in general). I've been tasked with creating a simulation of car traffic for a SL-based project, and I'm having lots of problems getting objects to move where I want them to!

I built a basic car and now ideally I want to make it move along a path that I specify. (The end goal is to have a bunch of these cars travelling on the same road, and each of their paths/speeds is the same but staggered so it looks like the road has a lot of cars on it at once - traffic).
Is it possible to make an object move along a path that is preset somehow? Is it somehow possible to draw a line on the road and make the object follow it, or something similar? or do I need to apply a variety of impulses to the car? I am confused about how I would even figure out what impulses to apply and how I would script that sort of thing, since the road I am trying to follow has turns and does not follow along a single particular axis (it runs kind of diagonally mostly).
I'm looking to make the car "drive" on its own without an avatar and run along the road continuously. Is what I'm trying to do at all possible?

Thanks so much, clearly I have absolutely no clue what i'm doing!

Yep, I've already done what you're suggesting

What method did you use?

take a look at the various train script for examples of following a prim delineated path, and the various 'tour' type scripts for examples of basing it on position.