mathematics wrote:
Not trying to poopoo the idea, automation of driving is almost surely safer than people driving, but IDK if it's there quite yet.
There are a slew of alerting and intervention features that I freakin' love. For example, blind spot detection. This is fantastic, because it intervenes when people make mistakes. I do not think that drivers are necessarily more attentive in less advanced vehicles, and missing a blind spot has been a problem forever. Ditto rear cross traffic. There are some instances that a driver simply cannot see well, and good rear cross traffic is a godsend. Also there is automatic object detecting in reverse. Screens and mirrors do not protect toddlers and toys well enough, but this simple tech can.
Now, when we branch into true automation, I am mixed. I have driven Tesla's FSD, and it is pretty amazing: parking lot to parking lot navigation. But my friend best described it as being like being in a car when you are teaching your 15 year old how to drive. Next step down is hands-free ADAS. I love that, and it is really good now. But yes, it does allow the drivers to check out a little. Then we get down to simple traffic aware cruise control. I doubt anyone would want to revert back to the 2000s and be without that feature again.