GM Putting Semi-Autonomous Technology Through More Difficult Testing

UNITED STATES – According to a news story reported online at ncnewsonline.com, General Motors is putting its semi-autonomous vehicle systems through more difficult testing. The company is reportedly sending its vehicles onto 70,000 additional miles of roadway to see how their systems perform.* 

The new roads have some of the same circumstances, like cross traffic, that have bogged down Tesla vehicles running in the semi-autonomous Autopilot mode. GM’s vehicles currently have access to about 130,000 miles of highways in the U.S. and Canada, and the vehicles do not enter intersections or run through cross traffic. Later this year, the vehicles will be able to run on 200,000 miles of roadway.

GM states that its systems have been tested and will be able to detect cross traffic and come to a stop. However, it follows this statement by saying that drivers using semi-autonomous features in GM vehicles need to stay alert and be prepared to intervene if the systems do not respond appropriately. 

Semi-autonomous technology has been under fire lately, in part due to high-profile vehicle crashes involving Teslas. In Florida, two people tragically lost their lives while using Autopilot on highways. Both accidents involved tractor-trailers turning in front of the Tesla vehicles, which Autopilot appears to have not detected. The systems did not brake when the tractor-trailers pulled in the vehicles’ paths, and the drivers did not brake, either. 

GM’s semi-autonomous system is currently only inside of the Cadillac CT6. Unlike Autopilot, the GM system includes a camera that monitors drivers to ensure they stay attentive. Autopilot only monitors whether drivers have their hands on the steering wheel. 

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Source:https://www.ncnewsonline.com/news/national/gm-adds-trickier-roads-to-its-semi-autonomous-driving-system/article_f052f85d-3c8f-5b84-b061-d2428030a50a.html