Autopilot consensus

is it really more relaxing to have to continually monitor and think about it vs just driving?

 

Absolutely yes. You quickly learn where Autopilot is appropriate to use and where not.

 

i was trying my sons lane keep assist on his new rav4h on the backroads around here.

about half the time it was perfect, and the rest i had to keep correcting the steering.

but it was constant vigilance

 

And yet we don't hear the media trashing Toyota for its LKA system. That's right, Toyota spends money in the media on advertising, Tesla doesn't.

 

New version TSS 2.0 has the new feature Lane trace Assist (LTA) it will keep the car centered in the lane. Prius has older version where the car will bounce from one line to the other like a drunk driver. RAV4, Corolla... has the new version.

 

That's kind of my feeling.
But admittedly, I have the prejudice or really enjoying driving.

Plus, I wonder about this.
These "partial" automatic systems, I think leave you in a penumbra. Which I actually think could be more dangerous. The risk, temptation, is to be lulled into a false sense of security believing the "assist" will work.

At least when I'm driving my car, I realize constantly I'm responsible for all the aspects of driving. I'm not tempted to think, it can drive itself.
Brake in an emergency, or keep itself in the proper lane or warn when drifting.

That being said?
Various systems of automated driving and driving assist, I think is just the future.
I can win no logical argument against their evolution or adoption.

Someday I suspect all the skills of complete driving embraced today, and in recent history might seem as primitive as having to turn a hand crank to start the vehicle.

 

My car, a 12/18 build with EAP and FSD options, has NEVER exhibited this kind of LKA behavior, EVER! I use it daily on freeways, local collector streets, and on country roads. It tracks straight and true all the time. Some of the earlier cars from two years ago used to exhibit some "ping ponging", but the was corrected months ago with Over The Air software improvements. There is no indication of when this video was shot. Pure FUD.

 

Do you fly?
If you do, do you worry that the autopilot will lull the pilot into a false sense of security?

It could happen. Pilots have gotten into trouble because of it. They've also get into trouble without it. The evidence is that the latter is the more likely of the two.

With autopilot systems, the pilot doesn't need to focus constantly on keeping the plane on course. This reduces stress and fatigue, and more importantly, allows the pilot to focus more time to the airspace around them, communications, and the other aspects of flying. These driver assist systems can provide the same.

I understand the joy of driving. Driving along twisty country roads can be fun. Driving on long trips, or in traffic, is not. I want these systems in my next highway cruiser, because I can them letting me be more relaxed physically, which should make it easier to focus on everything going on outside the car.

 

it's not a matter of worrying about autopilot, we all know it doesn't work perfectly. if it were fully autonomous, i wold have the seat back snoozing.
it's a matter of sitting there with your hands on the wheel for hours on end, trying to maintain concentration when your not doing much.

i'm just asking. i would have to try it myself before coming to a conclusion.

 

People have trouble doing this without even basic cruise control on. After some time driving, you can fall under the effect of highway hypnosis, even when your leg and arm muscles are physically engaged with driving the car. How would you feel about driving to Florida without cruise control?

Cruise control eased the physical burden of driving. Dynamic cruise and lane keeping ease if further. They, along with auto braking, reduce the chance a momentary distraction or inattentiveness turns into something bad, which does happen without them.

Fun fact, one of the first, modern cruise controls was called Auto-pilot.
Cruise control - Wikipedia

 

i have had a couple cars without cruise in my youth. even then, my leg would start to ache. my dad drove us across country in '63 without it, i don't know how he did it.

 

Actually I do worry, and so should you.
There have been crashes, that when investigated revealed the Pilots were trusting too much in the autonomous equipment, and really did not know how to respond or "fly the plane" when suddenly they were in a situation where they had to.

Listen...EVERYBODY...I'm not against this evolution. It's inevitable.
But I do enjoy driving, AND...I do think in many of the popular forms currently available, there is some risk in depending or relying too much, on what is NOT meant to replace vigilance or actual attention to driving.

I would say, go check out an now older commercial by Nissan, It's a commercial promoting their "Intelligent Mobility" system. It also is promoting Star Wars: The Last Jedi....so you can find it on youtube.

It's interesting to me, because it's a Father and young daughter, and the young daughter is in that "learning" stage of driving. She comes up on a imposing looking stretch of construction and looks worried and tense. The Father tells her to relax, and she turns on the "Intelligent Driving" system.

She suddenly looks more relieved, calmer, and there are shots of her actually letting go (semi) of the steering wheel, as " The System" helps guide her.

Nothing wrong with it. BUT....that's the difference.

When I was learning how to drive? I had to LEARN HOW TO DRIVE. That included learning how to handle Construction Zones, Narrow Streets, and all the harrowing aspects of driving that can develop. My Dad didn't just look at me and tell me to turn on the safety system.
No vehicle at the time, had radar assisted braking, or lane assist.
If your steering wheel moved by itself? You better call Stephen King because you're driving Christine.

I learned how to drive a stick shift, before I learned how to drive an automatic.

Does all this make me a better driver today?
You can disagree...but I think it did.
That doesn't mean I'm against brakes that can avoid an accident, and assist in emergency braking, or that I'm against any form of Lane Keep Assist.

So in short, if I'm flying in a big commercial plane? I hope the pilot is using every single bit of electronic, computer controlled equipment designed to get me, and the entire plane from point A to point B safely. BUT...I also would hope that the PILOT also knows how to fly a plane, and has experience and history actually FLYING a plane.

I don't think it's coincidence that Chesley Sullenberger the Pilot of Flight 1549 which he landed in the Hudson river, saving many lives, had decades, years, and countless hours of experience flying planes, starting when he was 16 years old.

Even today? I want the trained and prepared HUMAN in the cockpit.

 

No one reasonable is saying these systems, in cars or planes, are a substitute for knowing how to operate them.

Yes, accidents have happened because of failure of some kind with the systems.

But they also happened long before the systems came along, and in the case of planes, the evidence is that they help reduce accidents overall.

A lot of things can lead to a car crashing. These systems are designed to mitigate to risks. A person can become complacent with them in place. They can also become complacent about talking on the phone, texting, drinking, putting on make up, shaving, reading the paper, or any of the numerous other things that have lead to a crash.

Learning to drive is a separate issue. Because of insurance discounts we had professional lessons in the land of NJ, in cars with a brake pedal on the passenger side for the instructor. People not being properly trained to drive is not the technologies' fault. Want people to be better trained, call for better training, and stricter limits on new drivers. We hand out driver's licenses too easily in the US.

 

I see this half automated systems like the driver is the instructor in driving school, always be alert. And in some way that is actually true, as Tesla neural network learns the more it's driven. I would just say it's a slow learner