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Comment by leesec | Hacker News Reader

Tesla's Autopilot and GM's Supercruise only "kind of works"

I don't know much about GM's Supercruise, but I'm still in the camp that Tesla's Autopilot is dangerous and irresponsible.

More specifically, I'm against anything less than L4 autonomous self driving cars.

Have you considered people using L2 systems as like an advanced cruise control?

For example, if people are going to text and drive, would you rather they have an intelligent L2 system that reliably keeps you in the lane and not crashing into the car in front of you, or just do as they are doing now?

I think there is much value in considering these systems as a better safety feature rather than fully autonomous.

It's not just about safety, but I think that the possibility of not paying attention when you need to is higher with an L2 system than standard cruise control.

Beyond safety, I think L2 accidents (which are already happening) will be VERY bad for the perception of autonomous driving in general, and will make it VERY hard on a regulatory level to get L4+ autonomous cars out on the road when they're finally ready.

The question is whether or not cars with L2 systems have a lower accident rate than cars without them. As with L4 systems, they don't need to be perfect - just better than we are.

That would be a good number to start to refute my safety argument, but it does no good with my non-safety argument.

Anecdotal, but still: I used to drive an Audi with a ton of advanced L2 systems (adaptive cruise control + lane assist). Both systems work from standstill to ~180km/h (well above highway speeds). While not perfect, I did use them both all the time, and the way you drive changes. You learn 'how' the systems work really fast.

The thing that changed for me while driving with both systems engaged is that my role changed from driving and continuously making small adjustments to stay centered in the lane and keeping the right distance. With the systems engaged, I was mostly monitoring that they work accurately. I don't have to bother continuously with most things, I can spend more time watching all surroundings to watch for anomalies / things the systems can't handle.

The end result for me at least felt a lot safer, and more relaxed. The systems felt very, very reliable.

That's because you were using them the right way. But a lot of people engage those systems and then pick up their phone and start texting or watching videos. Look at the guy who literally lost his head in his Tesla when it went under a truck. Records show that he was watching YouTube at the time.

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