While self-driving cars already are being tested on public roads, newly released safety data support the cautionary view that the technology has many miles to go before people can sleep at the wheel.

That doesn’t mean relief is decades away for drivers weary of commuting. It’s possible, even likely, that within a few years mainstream cars will be able to drive themselves reliably — on routes they have mastered, in weather they can handle and on the premise that a driver will be ready to take over when needed. (The White House last week said it will work with auto companies and state governments to speed up the arrival of driverless cars.)

Traditional automakers and technology companies such.. read more

NY Times -- It is not every day you get to open a door and step into the future.

But to pull the handle on a newly updated Tesla Model S this week and slide into the driver’s seat was to catch a glimpse of the auto industry’s plans to soon let cars drive us, rather than the other way around.

The updated Tesla, an already high-tech electric car that starts at about $75,000, was equipped with what the company calls Autopilot — a semiautonomous feature that allows hands-free, pedal-free driving on the highway under certain conditions. The car will even change lanes autonomously at the driver’s request (by hitting the turn signal) and uses sensors to scan the road in all directions and adjust the throttle, steering and brakes.

It is the first time that a production vehicle available to consumers will have such advanced self-driving capabilities. Or more to the point, the first time they will be unleashed for driving 70 miles per hour along twisty, though clearly marked, highways for long stretches. (Other manufacturers like Volvo and Mercedes-Benz recently introduced their own semiautonomous features, but limit the functions to lower speeds or require the driver to constantly touch the wheel.) And it’s perfectly legal. Among the states, only New York has any law prohibiting hands-free driving.

Thursday morning, Tesla owners woke up to discover that their vehicles can wirelessly download the new autopilot feature as a software update. That means the next time you see a Model S cruising next to you on the interstate, look closely: It may be driving itself.

Autopilot is not free (the download costs $2,500), and it is not yet perfected (clear lane markings are needed, and bad weather can affect its abilities), but it works remarkably well under normal circumstances.

The feeling of gliding autonomously through highway traffic initially feels a bit unnerving, especially on the Washington area’s notoriously congested roads. But on a recent afternoon while testing Tesla’s autopilot, that feeling faded as I began to trust the car to keep its lane along the twisty highway that hugs the Potomac River in Virginia.

One of the most soothing aspects of the system was how natural the steering felt through the turns. To mimic a human driver is one of the big challenges automakers face in designing self-driving cars. That is because computers can be so perfect that they may constantly adjust to stay exactly in the middle of a lane, resulting in a lot of little jerky motions of the wheel that feels unnatural. Not the Tesla. It was silky smooth.

That does not mean, of course, that drivers can simply relax and let their minds wander. The car is skilled at keeping its lane, but when lane markings disappear or are significantly faded, you have to take over.

Similarly, when heading through construction zones, or when traffic is merging, the human driver is wise to keep full control. If you are in the right lane of a highway and cars are merging at slower speeds, most drivers want to move over a lane and go around them. But the Tesla does not know that. It will instead automatically slow to match the slower speeds of the merging cars.

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/automobiles/tesla-adds-high-speed-autonomous-driving-to-its-bag-of-tricks.html?WT.mc_id=SmartBriefs-Newsletter&WT.mc_ev=click&_r=0