I Told You So - Dangers of Partially Driverless

So what did people expect when a car came on the road that allows for hands-free driving on the highway - but only highways with clear lane markings - and a warning that hands should remain - doing nothing - on the wheel? Turns out, those hands are not remaining on the Tesla steering wheels, Some "drivers" are climbing into their Tesla backseats or engaging in other unauthorized, not-good-driver behavior. Oh, and the car can't "read" weather, stop signs, traffic signals, or other common road situations.

I don't have the time, but apparently these mischievous Tesla owners are posting their videos all over the place.

Apparently, I'm not the only person concerned that semi-autonomous vehicles present real dangers. State driving regulators in California are pondering this issue. They were taking their time, but will they hurry up now that the semi-autonomous Teslas are out there driving themselves on highways throughout the state? According to a Silicon Valley article, linked to above in this paragraph, all eyes are on California to issue regulations and set the model for what other states and countries should document, restrict, and allow.

And ... Tesla cars, with those hands-free drivers, perhaps some of them napping or watching videos while behind the wheel, are not considered self-driving according to current California rules. That will be one fun lawsuit when the first accident occurs because the driver did not become instantly attentive when the car alerted him or her.

California might start first driverless community

Planners developing a Southern California community to be pedestrian friendly and have supermarkets and other services within a 10-minute walk of each residence, is considering becoming the first driverless community in the U.S. as well. The idea is that when a car is needed, it can be shared and driverless.

The name is Lilac Hills Ranch, for those wanting to delve deeper.

Florida embracing driverless

Why pay to build a road twice? Florida is resolving this possible problem before it becomes a problem. The sunshine state is planning to build roads that can be adjusted in some way for the day when connected and/or driverless vehicles begin traveling up and down its roads. 

Meanwhile, on the roads of Greece, completely driverless gets a chance

Personally, I think a completely driverless vehicle is safer than a partially autonomous one. One city in Greece won the highly competitive spot to try real driverless transit on local roads - with dogs, pedestrians, bicycles, and angry human drivers - on a 1.5 mile stretch. I reported on this before the pilot program started; now the vehicles are in operation. No reports of passengers yet. There is a human monitoring the situation in a control center. He or she will be able to remotely take over the controls if need be, but the little bus is designed to travel without human control of any kind.

That article provides very good coverage of the difference between the Greek CityMobil2 project and earlier ones.