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Comment by bryanlarsen | Hacker News Reader

Tesla full self-driving beta is Level 3, and it's currently driving on the roads in a very small percentage of customer Teslas. https://www.google.com/search?q=youtube+fsd+beta

That being said, Level 3 has limited utility. If a driver needs to take over at any time, that means they need to be taking over in milliseconds, so it means that they need to be 100% focused on everything. Level 3 is a fancy cruise control. Level 4 & 5 are the ones that will fundamentally change driving.

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From this article (https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradtempleton/2020/11/11/honda-...): "Most importantly, they allow you to take all attention off the road — you can do e-mail or read a book, and do not have to watch the road. When traffic opens up again, they alert you and you start driving. "

It looks like they have level 4 and are calling it level 3?

Sounds like it's "level 4" in slow bumper to bumper traffic only. I'd trust Tesla Autopilot similarly in that situation as well.

People already almost entirely disengage from driving in slow traffic, about 1:20 drivers in traffic queues I walked past (last year, during rush hour) looked at their phones whilst moving.

It should be relatively easy a task not to crash as often as people in such situations? Couple of parking radars and a lane follower would probably be close to human levels of contact avoidance in crawling traffic?

My mother crashed in bumper-to-bumper slow traffic playing PokeMon Go a couple years ago. I wonder how much a self-driving car would have helped avoid an accident.

Likely all that would be needed was automatic braking.

The problem is many of the "self-driving cars" are basically automatic braking and lane keeping assists. Add in a bit of marketing, and suddenly it is an AGI that would herald new wave of automation

Does tesla allow you to take your hands and attention off the driving? Because this one does

Interesting. Officially according to the NHTSA, there are not any Level 3 systems on public roads in the USA.

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