What good is auto-pilot when one still needs to put hands on the steering wheel?

[ddm2k]

I would actually find myself paying MORE attention if I was "watching the car drive" instead of driving the car. Mostly due to the initial anxiety...

I draw my personal line of comfort at adaptive cruise control, now that's a nice, common-sense feature that lets you drive among others who may not be using cruise.

Audible lane departure warnings are a little much, but I'm sure the blind spot alert LEDs on side view mirrors help a large number of drivers.

[ukrkoz]

Quick search on YouTube will show you video of a guy, riding a Tesla, in autonomous mode while in THE REAR SEAT.

requirement is to place hands on SW ever so often, to reconfirm that you are still awake and capable of taking over control. Vehicle will first give you warning, requesting hands on SW.



Next. Mercedes released a prototype that does not require any human interaction of such nature. You can literally turn your back on where the controls are - and chat with other 3 passengers in the vehicle. Vehicle will drive itself where you requested to be driven to.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zj_QhtqXTE


What also comes with 1 100 km range, btw. Or, 687 miles.

[burdell]

Originally Posted by ddm2k

Defective question. There are two in the cockpit of airliners of the size and complexity to have the auto-pilot feature.

And the crew doesn't monitor things because of that?

[ddm2k]

Originally Posted by burdell

And the crew doesn't monitor things because of that?

One pilot can use the restroom while the other remains in the cockpit, ready to intercept if auto-pilot isn't doing its job well enough.