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An Anonymous Coward writes:
As predicted by many (including posts here on SN), extensive testing now shows that if the driver's workload is reduced to near zero they are in no position to intervene should the autonomous system get in trouble.
The Detroit-based company has tried many ways to keep its engineers alert during autonomous car test runs, employing everything from alarm bells and lights to even putting a second engineer in the vehicle to monitor their counterpart. "No matter — the smooth ride was just too lulling and engineers struggled to maintain 'situational awareness,'" said Ford product development chief, Raj Nair.
Ford's strategy of eventually removing the steering wheel and pedals from self-driving cars has ignited a debate between automakers on how to approach the development of Level 3 self-driving vehicles, or if Level 3 should even exist at all.
BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi will introduce semi-autonomous Level 3 vehicles next year that require human intervention within 10 seconds or the vehicle will slow to a stop in its lane. However, other automakers like Nissan and Honda have upcoming systems that give the driver 30 seconds to prepare and re-engage the vehicle or it will pull to the side of the road.
The article continues with quotes from other manufacturers and US DOT. As a reminder, levels from 0 (no automation) through 5 have been defined by SAE. Level 3 is "conditional automation" and it's starting to look like this level is not such a good idea.
(Score: 2) by BenJeremy on Tuesday February 21 2017, @08:27PM
...based on my daily commute into Detroit, Ford engineers don't exercise a lot of "situational awareness" when driving their regular "Level 0" cars.
I witness legions of people on auto-pilot, not the good kind - changing lanes without signalling, tail-gating (which leads to stop and go traffic) and late merging (not zipper, which requires both lanes to be the same speed). In general, some people are decent drivers, but even decent drivers get lulled into leaning on their subconscious to do the driving.
Autonomous driving will probably be much safer, at any rate. Even Level 3.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 21 2017, @11:31PM
...based on my daily commute into Detroit, Ford engineers don't exercise a lot of "situational awareness" when driving their regular "Level 0" cars.
I too find this hard to believe, but not everyone in Detroit is a Ford engineer. And having situational awareness is not a consequence of being an engineer.
(Score: 2) by BenJeremy on Wednesday February 22 2017, @01:14PM
Well, there are a lot of engineers on the roads during my commute... GM, Chrysler, vendors.... not many people are situationally aware, no matter what their employer or job.
My main point was that it isn't a circumstance of the automated driving, but rather just a reality of a disengaged participant, and that many are already driving on their own "autopilot" that is far more dangerous. Removing some of the control from people who would already be somewhat oblivious isn't going to promote more alertness, it will only make it easier for the driver to disconnect.