Motorists need to understand capabilities, role of autopilot

Q

All these articles about cars with autopilot and the drivers who overly rely on the system remind me of a similar issue the aviation industry had in the 1970s-1980s with airplane pilots and aircraft autopilot systems. Does this sound familiar? Pilots didn’t fully understand the capabilities and limitations of the system.

They became overly reliant on the system and lost proficiency at manually flying the airplane in critical situations. Pilots would be oblivious to errors the autopilot was making or placed too much faith that the autopilot was doing the right things at the right time.

Now we’re making the same mistakes when it comes to automobile autopilots. The bottom line is we are moving too fast toward autonomous cars, and it doesn’t appear we’ve learned from, or are applying the lessons from, pilots and airplanes.

— Tom Gray

Livermore

A

This is in response to an AAA survey that found that 40 percent of drivers believe cars with auto-assist tools can be driven autonomously. That is not true and is a dangerous belief.

Q

The problem with Tesla autopilot is not that 40 percent of drivers misunderstand its capability, the problem is that 100 percent of people know what the word “autopilot” has always meant: “a device for keeping an aircraft on a set course without the intervention of a pilot.” While it is incumbent on a driver to know the features and capabilities of the car being driven, it seems highly negligent to label a driver-assist feature “autopilot” when it is not capable of being used in the sense that that word has always meant. Phil Grover Concord A

But semantics aside, here is another view. Q

I read the comments regarding Tesla autopilot with some dismay. I have a Model 3, and I think the features work very well. People who have never used them may not realize how truly amazing they are.

I was apprehensive the first couple of times I used them, but now I would never drive manually in heavy traffic. The capabilities are being improved almost monthly with frequent software updates being delivered automatically.

The AAA needs to repeat their tests as none of the issues they raised are occurring with the current system.

My car works great on Highway 17, is much more relaxing to drive in heavy traffic, no lane departures or wandering, no late braking, etc. The car can safely maneuver lane changes (no need to worry about blind spots).

Full auto mode is still not available, so drivers absolutely need to maintain awareness. By the end of next year, Mercedes, Cadillac and several other manufacturers will have matching capabilities.

Let’s not jump the gun and assume because of a couple of idiot drivers that this is a bad idea. Steve Brock San Jose A

Steve, you have convinced me.