Automakers wrestle with reality of self-driving tech
Drivers must stay alert at the wheel, they warn
Car companies battling for their share of $2 trillion in annual global auto sales increasingly lean on shiny tech that takes over some of the driving from humans.
Boasting names such as Autopilot, Super Cruise and ProPilot Assist, these systems — whose radar and cameras are the building blocks of self-driving cars — are part of a growing effort by manufacturers to woo with computing power rather than horsepower.
But on the heels of two Teslas that crashed while on Autopilot, automakers find themselves increasingly torn between hyping the tech and warning owners about its limitations.
“It’s on us to educate people about what’s allowable and what’s not allowable,” says Andy Christensen, lead engineer on Nissan’s ProPilot Assist. “We don’t want drivers to be overly confident. (The tech) is there to assist you, it’s not driving for you.”
More than a dozen manufacturers from Audi to Volvo now offer so-called ADAS options (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) on their cars. As questions resurface about whether the efficacy of such driving aides lulls drivers into complacency, automakers pack manuals with disclaimers, provide in-car audio and visual warnings, and direct salespeople to remind customers that such features should not be abused.
But the magical perception of driverassist tech — hammered home in their names, advertising and even executive comments — can obscure an operational reality that demands drivers constantly monitor the self-driving system and sometimes be prepared to take over in a split second.
Consider Nissan’s new television ad for ProPilot Assist. It opens with a Star Wars spaceship threading the needle between two enemy cruisers, then cuts to a woman driving a Rogue SUV on a bridge as it heads between two semi trucks.
“I’ve got this,” she tells her passenger, and then the vehicle is shown driving it- self between the trucks as her hands hover just above the steering wheel — but not on it. The car is using its sensors to detect the lane markings and center the car, but frequent input to the wheel by the driver keeps the system on.
When Mercedes-Benz introduced its 2017 E-Class, it touted the car’s tech chops in a TV spot that asked whether the world was ready for a vehicle “that can drive itself.”
Although the commercial offered disclaimers at the bottom of the screen — “Vehicle cannot drive itself, but has automated driving features” — Mercedes quickly pulled the ad in response
to criticism it was misleading to consumers.
Cadillac’s Super Cruise system is billed in ads as “the world’s first true hands-free system for the highway ... no need to tap the wheel to show you’re still there.” But, the ad quickly adds, “that doesn’t mean you can check out.”
And not long after Tesla launched its boldly named Autopilot system in 2015, CEO Elon Musk declared “it’s probably better than a person right now,” adding that it soon would “drive virtually all roads at a safety level significantly better than humans.”
Musk more recently said Autopilot will “never be perfect,” and after two recent crashes his company has issued a litany of statements reminding drivers of their responsibility when engaging Autopilot.
In March, the driver of a Model X died after his car steered into a highway di- vider in Mountain View, Calif. Tesla says the driver ignored repeated warnings — which it knows from the car’s computer logs — to retake control of the vehicle.
And a few weeks ago, post-crash data revealed that a woman driving her Model S south of Salt Lake City repeatedly engaged Autopilot and each time didn’t touch the wheel for many seconds. After one 80 second spell of neglecting the wheel — and by her own admission focusing on her phone — the driver slammed into a stopped fire truck at 60 mph and, somehow, only suffered a broken foot.
In response to questions about its technology, Tesla provided USA TODAY with previously issued statements about Autopilot and excerpts from its owner’s manuals.
Those statements include language warning that while Autopilot “is the most advanced driver assistance system on the road, it does not turn a Tesla into an autonomous vehicle and does not allow the driver to abdicate responsibility.”
The Tesla crashes recently prompted consumer groups to ask the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Tesla for having “consistently and deceptively hyped its technology,” said Consumer Watchdog’s John Simpson.
Some experts suggest that regulators might want to consider redrafting licensing rules when it comes to operating cars with driver-assist tech.
“With automation comes more responsibility,” says Bryan Reimer, research scientist with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Advanced Vehicle Technology Consortium. “Every system out there now has benefits and limitations, and none work perfectly in all situations. We as a society have to understand the balancing point.”
Particularly concerning is what automakers call the handoff, that moment when a computer realizes it needs a human to take over. The Catch-22 at play is simple: The better the tech, the more the human will rely on it, making an emergency handoff harder for the brain to process quickly.