Do we really need autopilot?
4 minute read | August 3, 2016
Big names like Tesla, Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover are all getting in on the act, with the latter hoping to have 100 self-driving research vehicles on the roads near Coventry before the end of 2020. But is the technology safe enough?
Glitch in the system
This past week has seen another accident in a self-drive vehicle, this one, again, involving a Tesla driver. The incident in question saw the driver fail to heed any ‘dashboard warnings’ as the vehicle began to veer off road.
The problem? The warnings were in English, while the driver and his passenger only understood Mandarin.
While this will officially go down as a black mark against Tesla and the technology, surely human error and basic common sense needs to shoulder some of the blame. Luckily, the driver and passenger were able to walk away from the accident relatively unharmed.
Unfortunately, another Tesla driver in May 2016 wasn’t so lucky when the car’s sensors failed to distinguish a large white tractor-trailer crossing the highway in front of him. The autopilot attempted to drive, at speed, under the trailer impacting the windscreen of the Model S. The official stance was a failure in identifying the truck as it was white and the day in question was bright.
US wades in
US consumer publication, Consumer Reports, has called on Tesla to disable its autonomous autopilot feature, until it can reprogramme the technology to require drivers to keep their hands on the wheel.
Tesla founder and CEO, Elon Musk, has rejected any calls for autopilot to be disabled.
I can only assume that Tesla have the following issue with the request; if your hands are kept on the wheel at all times, would it still be classed as autopilot?
When does the future catch up to the reality?
There’s no denying that the future of the motor industry is self-driving technology. The ability to be driven to your destination while you catch up on any last minute prep for that important meeting, continue that engaging text exchange or even finish getting ready is a future we’ve always been promised but never had delivered. Movies that detailed future tech teased us with innovation that always seemed two steps ahead, until now.
Just a few weeks ago, Nissan unveiled their new minivan, Serena, which features self-driving technology. This allows the MV to control steering, gas and brake on single lane highways in crowded and uncrowded traffic situations. The technology is referred to as Propilot, and works by monitoring the road conditions and feeding the information through to an on board computer which controls the vehicle. Did we mention the van goes on sale next month?
In theory, the above sounds like a marvel of modern man, but in reality do you feel confident trusting your safety to a vehicle that Inspector Gadget would own?
The stats
186,209. That’s the total number of reported casualties in 2015 as a result of road traffic accidents. Not all of these were the fault of the driver in charge of the vehicle. Between cyclists, pedestrians, weather conditions and other road users, today’s driver is running a gauntlet of risk every time they undertake a journey. One thing that drivers are able to control is their reactions.
Measured in milliseconds (ms), on average a drivers reaction time is 10% faster than a non driver.
The average reaction time of a driver changes depending on the length of time they have been driving. Those who have held a license for less than a year average a reaction time of 536ms compared to those who have held a license for between one and two years who average 391ms.
Autopilot vs common sense
If you’re using a car that features autonomous autopilot, over time the average speed of your reactions will decrease.
Let’s use the unharmed Tesla driver and their passenger as an example. The autopilot began to fail and warnings came up on the dashboard, granted they were in a language foreign to the driver and passenger, Tesla confirmed that there was a two minute time lapse from the warnings appearing on the dash and the vehicle leaving the road. Two minutes.
In that time, the driver could have taken the wheel, disengaged the autopilot and corrected the trajectory of the vehicle. Why didn’t he? Is it because autopilot deceases the reaction time of the driver through an over reliance on technology?
Consumers expect products released to the wider market to work. They don’t expect glitches to be ironed out a few weeks or months down the line. Products are supposed to be tested from every conceivable angle before the buying public get their hands on them. In this always online day and age, a product launch can be live or die by its user reviews.
People no longer take professional reviews at face value, they google, search forums, watch YouTube reviews all to get as much knowledge as possible before making a purchase. Combine that with the cost of your average car that will feature this level of tech and you’re looking at an even savvier type of consumer.
What happened to the fun of driving?
It seems that the motoring industry is getting closer to a fully self-driving car with each new iteration of vehicle, but what happened to the fun of driving?
Isn’t getting into a vehicle, preplanning a route and relaxing till you get there just a taxi ride? Granted you don’t need to make small talk, but you are essentially being chauffeured around. The difference being, the taxi driver has an in-depth knowledge of the different routes to your destination and they have a vested interest in keeping you alive along the way.
If you buy a new car you want to drive it. You want to go on long journeys and enjoy every aspect of improvement over your old car. The steering doesn’t feel like you’re holding back an elephant from a peanut, it glides across the road with the grace of Torvill and Dean and the air conditioning even works. Instead, you’ll get in the car and remark about the seats. “They’re really…. comfortable?”
When David Hasselhoff first climbed inside Kitt, I’m sure he had no clue that he would incite a global fascination of self drive vehicles as future generations of engineers fantasised about what could be. The problem is that Kitt was an actor, David Hasselhoff was overpaid and they spoke the same language.
It’s too late to stop the juggernaut that is self-driving technology. With so many manufacturers clambering to put their own spin on autonomous autopilot, it is only a matter of time before the new tech becomes the norm. Our caveat would be for more stringent stress testing of the technology and a better understanding of its limitations.
Figures taken from
www.bbc.co.uk/news/technlogy-36783345
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