When your 'self-driving car' isn't autonomous

Weekly analysis, news and randomness from the future of transportation.

New York Times columnist David Leonhardt sent journalists, myself included, into a Twitter tizzy this week after he called Volvo's Pilot Assist advanced driver assist system both "driverless" and, confusingly, "semi-driverless."

As others at The Drive and Jalopnik have pointed out, neither of these terms is accurate. Leonhardt seems to not only misunderstand the capabilities of the system he was using, but overlook the progress of the development of autonomous driving.

It may seem that we're nit-picking, but this confusing vocabulary is a symptom of a wider issue with communication of driver-assistance and semiautonomous technologies that could lead to dangerous driving situations, especially as more advanced systems begin to roll out.

Cars are already chock-full of driver-assistance features: More than half of cars on sale today offer available adaptive cruise control, blind-spot detection, lane-departure warning, automatic parking and pre-collision warning, according to an Edmunds report. However, consumer education of these technologies is relatively low. Forty-nine percent of car buyers said a salesperson spent 15 minutes to an hour explaining driver-assistance features.

The challenge is greater once carmakers start marketing self-driving and "hands-free" technology. While SAE International has a handy guide to five levels of automation, even these general categories have a great deal of variation within them.

Take, for example, Level 3 autonomy, which means the car can drive on its own in certain situations, but humans must be able to take over at a moment's notice. This definition can range from Audi's Traffic Jam Pilot, which only operates in speeds up to 37 mph on a divided highway, to BMW's upcoming iNEXT electric crossover, which the automaker says will be able to drive up to 80 mph and make lane changes on its own. Suffice it to say, these two supposedly similar systems provide vastly different experiences.

Adding to the confusion is that there has been little effort at general education around autonomous technology. It doesn't help that carmakers use some combination of vague terms to describe their driver-assist systems, specifically: auto, pilot, cruise, assist, drive, super and pro.

The Gray Lady got her social media pile-on for playing fast and loose with definitions, but there are true safety risks to misunderstanding what your car can do. If this technology is to be safely introduced to the public, the industry needs to use clear language to make sure that each and every person using it knows exactly what it's capable of.

— Katie Burke

The autonomous arms race continues Delphi Automotive will acquire autonomous startup NuTonomy in a deal that could be worth $450 million. The software startup is a hot commodity after its self-driving taxi pilot in Singapore, and the acquisition could prove key to Delphi's efforts to differentiate with turnkey autonomous solutions for carmakers. 

The pace of acquisitions and partnerships in autonomous won't be slowing down anytime soon. General Motors is on the prowl for new opportunities, and LG Electronics and Qualcomm are jointly researching self-driving technology. Liability and intellectual property experts tell us they hope these deals are being thoroughly vetted to avoid issues in the future. 

Tap the brakes Singapore will stop permitting new vehicles on the road in February because of limited public space and increased efforts to push commuters into public transit. The government will review the decision in 2020. Chicago is eyeing a tax on companies that provide ride-hailing services to fund public transit.

Tesla, Inc. is on rocky footing with customers regarding its $8,000 Autopilot self-driving system that has yet to arrive in an over-the-air update. Children at this Puerto Rico hospital are probably ecstatic with Elon Musk, though.

We're not sure if this is what Ford means by "Go Further."

Meet the 26-year-old who brought down former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.

Artificial intelligence experts are making it rain.

Over-the-air updates may start clearing some room in dealerships' profit-generating service bays as automakers use them for quick software fixes.

Honolulu wants to fine you for distracted walking.

Turns out, losing a billion dollars every year does not bode well for most companies.

Ford's shuttle service lost its operating permit in California after failing the state's vehicle inspection three times in a row.

The NBC sitcom "The Good Place" breaks down the Trolley Problem, the ethical dilemma that continues to pop up in discussions of autonomous vehicle development. Or you could just follow MIT's plan and simply survey millions of drivers on what they would do given a choice between two bad options.

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