patrick.net

It is a nice application of technology. Certainly can be abused though. I don’t see how it is safe do be operating a vehicle barreling down a crowded highway at those speeds without having a foot hovering over the controls.

Also, How does it work with icy roads?

Could be a net benefit to people who drive the old fashion way, should be easier and safer to get around the people on autopilot.

Tesla has been doing this for years with the basic auto-pilot. (not to be confused with Tesla's Full Self Driving which absolutely next level door to door technology).

I use auto-pilot about 90% of the time I am driving on freeways. So much safer and more relaxing than staring at the car in front of me the whole drive. It still requires you to keep a hand on the wheel for tension or nudge it every 30 seconds or so.

This is how I drive down I-5 in my ancient SUV: cruise on, feet on the floor, one hand on the wheel, definitely not hovering or staring. Drove couple modern cars with the gizmos described in the OP (Tesla, Accord) and didn't find the experience all that different, except both did "phantom braking" and one of them -Accord - was constantly bugging me with "driver attention alerts". Basically, in situations where I would use these features - sparce, steady speed traffic on a major freeway - they aren't really adding much. And I wouldn't trust it in high-speed driving on a curvy road in a dense traffic situation anyway: if you need to stay frosty it's better to be actively driving and you definitely need to stay frosty in these conditions.

They are probably mostly aimed at slow speed stop-and-go commute situations, but I don't do that anymore and will do anything in my power to never go back to that hell.

PeopleUnited says

Could be a net benefit to people who drive the old fashion way, should be easier and safer to get around the people on autopilot.

It makes me a more polite driver. My wife sets the lead car distance. Normally, I’d be on the bumper of left lane slowpokes, even occassionally flashing them. But the computer maintains a safe distance. For road rage areas, I was thinking of geting a bumper sticker that says “ Don’t shoot me, the computer is doing the driving!"

Al_Sharpton_for_President says

Fantastic on a recent road trip. Just set speed and lead car distance, and sit back and read the papers. Pre-collision throttle management means that if you are beginning to exceed the pre-selected safe distance between you and the lead car, the car will throttle back on the speed to maintain the pre-selected safe distance. Really saves on leg weariness as you can place your feet on the floor, and not hovering over the brake or gas pedal.

I did let go of the steering wheel a few times to test it, and it did drive the car safely at speeds of 65-70 mph on the highway.

Subaru Eyesight. No radar, no laser. Two front-facing video cameras.

http://www.subarueyesight.com/

+1

We did the same thing on our recent 3800 mile trip to TX and back. This was a 2019 Forester rental. Lane centering was pretty smooth, no jerkiness. It did get confused on freeway exits with retroreflective markers - it kept trying to pull me off into the exit. We averaged 32 mpg with the adaptive cruise control.

Got it on Lexus LS 2001, wow, its already 22 years ago. Call it radar cruise control. Car still running and system work just like new. No line centering, however.