Self-Driving Cars - Where are we now?

Almost 8 years ago, we recall how Elon Musk first surprised the automotive world when he announced that Tesla vehicles would be equipped with the hardware required for full self-driving. In their official press release in 2016, Tesla confirmed, “Full autonomy will enable a Tesla to be substantially safer than a human driver, lower the financial cost of transportation for those who own a car and provide low-cost on-demand mobility for those who do not.”

While people get more and more interested in testing and riding self-driving cars, it appears that Elon Musk has yet to deliver, despite repeatedly stating that his company will achieve full self-driving capabilities next year, next year, and next year. Here’s a speech from him in 2019.

"Next year" has been his response for several years. Just a few months ago, in his speech at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai in Q3 of 2023, he gave another update on the status of self-driving Teslas. "I think we are very close to achieving full self-driving without human supervision.” He continued, “This is only speculation, but I think we'll achieve full self-driving, maybe what you would call four or five, I think, later this year.”

BMW announced that they are bringing its vehicles to the next generation of autonomous driving standards with the implementation of "Personal Pilot L3" in the new 7 Series. Level 3, as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers, offers highly automated “hands-off, eyes off’ driving. This implies that German drivers will be permitted to legally take their hands off the wheel this coming March 2024.

Still, as one might anticipate, this technology is subject to a number of requirements in order to ensure a successful launch. For example, automobiles can only self-drive up to a maximum speed of 37 mph on motorways.

Ford and its luxury division, Lincoln, introduced BlueCruise, a Level 2 automation system. This technology combines adaptive cruise control with lane-keeping assistance, enabling drivers to momentarily remove their hands from the wheel while maintaining visual focus on the road.

Currently, Ford’s system utilizes over 100,000 miles of pre-mapped roads and activates with a blue background on the instrument cluster when applicable. If you’re wondering how much it will cost, they said it’s now available for purchase on various Ford and Lincoln models, with a subscription cost of $2,400 for three years, contingent on acquiring the necessary equipment package.

There are compelling reasons why we might fall in love with self-driving automobiles in the near (or distant) future. First, we appreciate how self-driving cars represent new independence and accessibility for persons with restricted mobility, for the elderly, or for those unable to drive.

Self-driving cars, especially useful for fleets, use LiDAR, radar, GPS, and computer vision to sense their environment. The gathered sensory data is processed to optimize routes, avoid obstructions, and follow traffic laws. Regular updates to a computerized map allow the vehicle to adapt to changing environments and locations, making fleet management more efficient.

Additionally, because autonomous vehicles are typically electric, they also emit no pollution, minimizing their carbon footprint and promoting the sustainability of the environment.

However, aside from functionality, efficiency and sustainability, we think safety is the most important concern here. Are self-driving cars safe, even without human intervention?

While peddlers of the Self-Driving narrative love stating that these vehicles cite safer records than human drivers, this is best disputed in the words of The Washington Post:

Waymo and Cruise have both cited self-reported data that their robot cars have a superior track record to human drivers, and say their technology will eventually usher in a future with fewer road deaths and injuries. Still, over the past year, the cars have caused major headaches around the city — from disrupting traffic by stopping short or breaking down in the middle of the road, to once rolling over a fire hose at an emergency scene . . . According to the lawsuit, the city is asking the CPUC to reconsider the permits for Waymo and also "develop reporting requirements, safety benchmarks, and other needed public safety regulations" that would address "serious incidents involving first responders, street traffic interference, and disruption of public transportation."

As promoters of road safety through dashcams, our dilemma with self-driving cars is that safety risks continue to be controversial, especially during technical flaws. A computer malfunction—even a little glitch—could potentially result in a worse accident than anything caused by human mistake.

Apart from difficulties in determining the intentions of human road users, self-driving vehicles may also struggle in certain sorts of weather. Heavy rain can interfere with laser sensors positioned on the roof, while snow can interfere with cameras, which may affect the data-gathering process of the car’s system.

Next, security. We believe that every computer technology may be hacked occasionally, so it's a near-certainty that self-driving cars will be hacked, too. The Washington Post stated that cybersecurity became a "significant concern" for the automotive sector as cars got more automated.

Beyond that, Self-Driving cars also raise moral and philosophical questions – if the car crashes without a driver, who is to blame: the software designer or the vehicle owner? Driverless cars will undoubtedly spark discussions regarding legal, ethical, and financial responsibility. During times of road incidents involving a self-driving car, how will the police engage and penalize them?

Uber self-driving car test driver pleads guilty to endangerment in pedestrian death case

Driver of Tesla on autopilot gets probation for crash that killed 2 in Gardena

Every day, more and more stories come to light as these vehicles struggle to recognize children and cover up crimes. Vehicle rollouts have hit massive roadblocks, requiring serious cutbacks on the number of vehicles on the road, with high-level calls being issued for Industry-Wide Investigations.

Even in the process of writing this, more stories come to light, such as the city of San Francisco suing the California Public Utilities Commission over the decision to allow Waymo Vehicles, or Cruise vehicles, reportedly hiding evidence of dragging a pedestrian. While we all understand the risk that human drivers present on the road, self-driving cars present a brand-new risk, with all-new pitfalls, ones that can cause you to slam the brakes as soon as you spot a traffic cone, pigeon, or small child. We are all implicated in this grand experiment, whether we like it or not.