Don't worry - safety protocols are being followed.
San Francisco is a pretty forward-thinking city and a haven for automakers to test out driverless vehicles. Thus far, approval has been given to Audi, Tesla has been given the nod, and there are others coming to the city too. Now, GM's Super Cruise has just started testing its self-driving capabilities on these hallowed streets following approval from the California DMV to remove its backup drivers from behind the wheel. With over 2 million miles of testing conducted over a more than five year period, the time has come to actually start determining if the tech is suitable for real-world use, and the video below shows that it seems perfectly capable.
Obviously, as clever as the technology has become, there is still always someone in the passenger seat with access to an emergency switch while the cars test to ensure that they can be safely stopped in the event of a malfunction. But it's seriously impressive to see that it works in rain or shine; whether the sun is up or not. However, things aren't near the finish line yet, despite billions of dollars of investment, as Cruise CEO Dan Amman declined to comment on whether remote operators can take control of the vehicles when needed. Or perhaps he is worried that people will be concerned with strangers having remote control of their vehicles, but either way, driverless cars will be coming sooner or later.
At this point, the California DMV's permit only allows five cars to be tested "on specified streets within San Francisco", and may not exceed 30 mph, nor may they operate in heavy fog or torrential rain. So if you see a Chevrolet Bolt running around with unusual devices all over its body, there should be no worry that they are being operated in anything but a safe manner. Furthermore, Cruise says that every week its cars experience around 3,200 cut-ins by other drivers, yet emerge unscathed. The future is coming, and it's coming quickly. It seems that autonomous technology startups are almost ready - are you?
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