re: Drunk! But in your own self driving car?

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I'm sure most states haven't updated their laws for this. The Cadillacs, GMCs, and Denalis with the Super Cruise system will not operate if someone isn't in the driver's seat. It periodically checks that the person in that seat is awake (I think it is smart enough to recognize if a person's eyes are closed, if they are using their seatbelt, and checks every couple of minutes for them being awake). Technically I think it could handle most routes, but the lawyers at that company have clearly influenced the programming and hardware decisions. I think Tesla's system works in a similar way but is more ballsy from a legal standpoint. 'm sure that it could handle a long distance with no driver at all if allowed. May run into trouble with curb cuts, alleys, or driveways but so would a sober teenaged girl. Even in most Teslas, I think the car also knows if someone is in the operator's seat and if they are alert. And there's always the risk that a cop sees a "driver" passed out in the passenger seat, but how do they pull the darn thing over? Now Waymo is a different story. Zoox would be too if they ever figured out how to make the tech work. Those vehicles are for hire, and drunk college kids and tourists in places like Vegas are a big part of their future market. Here is an example of a 2021 Cadillac that has an optics feature built into the steering wheel. Notice the green light at the top of the steering wheel to indicate that the system is active. The tiny black monitor device below it, right above the air bag is what periodically scans the driver being awake and not asleep or having a newspaper in front of their face - it can detect the heat signature of a person, and it can't be tricked easily with an Airplane! style blow up doll. Supposedly it can see through polarized sunglasses too. I could be wrong because this tech is moving so damn fast right now. I'm fairly certain that Tesla has a similar driver monitor system, but IMO it's a bit cleaner looking and less "lawyer engineered" than the Cadillac system. I also think that Cadillac/GMC advertise what their system can do very clearly while Tesla tends to under sell the full capabilities once they become available (meaning the Teslas can do a little more than what is advertised), and Teslas seem to be updated more regularly. I do think we are at a point right now where these systems likely could technically drive people to and from most addresses without any input though. There are legal and regulatory hurdles that would have to change for that full self driving tech to be available for use without any operator in private motor vehicles. I'm sure that we will see these hurdles removed in many places within the next couple of years in some states though. I think Tesla is the leader right now, with GM being second best. GM has a slightly smoother approach with the lidar mapping and onboard systems working together (slightly better hardware platform), but they limit themselves to use on highways and major roads, state routes, etc. and not secondary streets. Telsa will just roll on any public road which is fricking awesome and ballsy IMO. You could have your Tesla drive down a residential street and watch it dodge parked cars and stray dogs. Once you pull onto a residential street, the Cadillac will start warning and buzzing you to put your hands on the wheel at that point and to find your own damn driveway. BMW, Hyundai, and Ford are not far behind GMC/Cadillac. Which makes sense considering they are massive companies with a huge R&D budget. I think the smaller companies like Mazda or Nissan are investing in this space but aren't as polished as the other options yet. I have no idea what Lucid and Rivian are doing. I really don't follow them very much except one of my neighbors has a Lucid. It's a sweet looking car. I guess my age will show with this. I'm not sure if I'd trust any system to drive me home completely without at least passively monitoring it in places like south Louisiana (with so many shitty roads/bridges, faded pavement markings, road debris, and bodies of water to drive into) or Pittsburgh (with cliffs and equally shitty roads/bridges). What I'd like to see is for heavy trucks to be outfitted with tech like Tesla's autopilot or GM's Super Cruise. Then we slowly phase in extended driving hours for freight haulers that are using these automated cruise systems, since it will reduce fatigue and improve their driving performance even when they are tired or frustrated with traffic.

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