Your Next Car May Let You Drive Hands-Free. Is That A Good Thing - WSJ

Your Next Car May Let You Drive Hands-Free. Is That a Good Thing?
- WSJ 12/26/20, 5)21 PM
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BUSINESS | AUTOS & TRANSPORTATION | AUTOS INDUSTRY
Your Next Car May Let You Drive Hands-

Free. Is That a Good Thing?
More vehicles are hitting showrooms with automated driving features, raising questions about driver
distraction
A GM driver tests a 2021 Cadillac Escalade SUV with Super Cruise hands-free
driving assistance.
PHOTO: GENERAL MOTORS/REUTERS
By Mike Colias
Dec. 26, 2020 5:30 am ET
Listen to this article

6 minutes
Auto makers are starting to sell cars with automated steering and
speed control to ease what they say is the tedium of driving, and might
even allow drivers to go hands-free in some situations.
Those features are raising new questions, though: How to keep people
from getting distracted behind the wheel—or picking up their phones—
if there is little for their hands to do?
Car companies have been adding safety technologies aimed at

preventing crashes, such as automatic emergency braking and systems
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Your Next Car May Let You Drive Hands-Free. Is That a Good Thing? - WSJ 12/26/20, 5)21 PM
to prevent the car from drifting out of its lane. Now, more are
introducing vehicle features that aim to make driving in rush-hour
traffic or on road trips less taxing.
Some new systems allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel on
highways or in heavy congestion, using sensors, radar and cameras to
automatically keep the car centered, control speed and even to change
lanes.
General Motors Co. was the first major car company to promote such
capabilities in 2017 with its hands-free Super Cruise feature, which can
be activated on most U.S. highways by pushing a button on the steering
wheel that enables the car to take over steering and speed control.
A Tesla charging station in California. The auto maker recently released to some
owners a test version of its upgraded Autopilot, the company’s driver-
assistance feature.
PHOTO: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS
The Detroit auto maker said it now plans to roll out the technology on
about two dozen models by 2023, up from one Cadillac model now.
Ford Motor Co. F -1.45% recently said it would offer similar technology
▲
beginning next year on as many as 100,000 F-150 pickup trucks and

Mustang Mach-E electric sport-utility models.
Honda Motor Co. HMC -0.45% plans to roll out a sedan in Japan in
▲
coming months that will allow the driver to fully cede control of the car
in heavy traffic or on highways. The technology will even allow drivers
to take their eyes off the road, although they will be expected to take
back control at any point, the company said. Japan’s government
regulators in November approved its use.
Honda said it hasn’t revealed plans to introduce this technology beyond

Japan.
TSLA 2.44%
Meanwhile, Tesla Inc. TSLA 2.44% ▲ said it recently released to some

owners a test version of its upgraded Autopilot, the auto maker’s
driver-assistance feature.
The $10,000 feature, which

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
the company calls Full Self
Would you be more inclined to buy a car Driving, expands the use of
that o!ered a hands-free driving option? automated features to more
Why or why not? Join the conversation types of roadways and adds
below. capabilities like navigating
highway interchanges.
The promise of fully driverless cars has faded in the past few years, as
developers struggle to refine the technology. But auto makers are
equipping more models with the building blocks of driverless cars to
offer so-called driver-assistance packages, hoping to gain a competitive
edge and boost sales.
“They allow auto makers to offer really interesting, differentiated

features to the consumer at a reasonable price point,” said Glen De Vos,
chief technology officer of Aptiv PLC, a supplier of software and
components used in driver-assistance systems.
Consumer Reports recently tested 17 models that combine automated

steering and speed control, up from four when the magazine did a
similar test two years ago. The magazine said such systems can ease
driver fatigue, but performance varies widely on aspects such as how
smoothly they brake and accelerate or keep a car centered in its lane.
Yet if drivers have less to do behind the wheel, safety advocates are
concerned they will be tempted to look at their phones or indulge in
other distractions, leading to crashes.
“If we’re going to put this technology on cars, we need to be mindful of

ensuring the driver is reasonably engaged,” said Bryan Reimer, a
research scientist at M.I.T. who studies driver-assistance systems.
Some advocates have criticized Tesla for promoting its latest update as
self-driving because the system isn’t fully autonomous, and advocates

say a pilot system shouldn’t be tested on public roads.
Tesla didn’t respond to requests for comment. The electric car maker
has previously said accident rates are lower when drivers have vehicles
with the Autopilot driver-assistance system engaged than when it isn’t
in use.
Auto makers have installed camera-based systems that monitor

drivers’ focus and alert them if their attention is straying, executives
and analysts say. GM and BMW AG BMW 1.78% ▲ use the technology to
keep drivers engaged, and Ford and others plan to use it in future
models. Such systems have drawn praise from researchers.
Aptiv’s Mr. De Vos said the company is working with five auto makers to
equip vehicles with camera-based driver-tracking systems.
Cadillac owners have logged about 6.5 million hands-free miles using
the Super Cruise technology, the company said. A series of audible
alerts warn drivers if their attention strays from the road.
Mario Maiorana, chief engineer for GM’s Super Cruise, said it has
become a selling point for customers, noting that 85% of owners say the
feature would be a major consideration in their next car purchase.
“People have told us they feel like they arrive at their destination
feeling more refreshed and relaxed because of the work we’ve handled,”
he said.
A recent update improved the driver-monitoring technology, he said. It

can now track the driver’s eyes, rather than only the head position, to
better detect if the motorist is fixed on the road or elsewhere.
A U.S. Senate bill introduced this year would require the U.S.
Department of Transportation to study whether driver-monitoring
systems can reduce distracted driving, and potentially require them on
future models. The legislation, introduced by Edward Markey (D.,
Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) in July, is pending.
A spokesman for the department’s National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration said it is researching whether driver-monitoring
systems are effective in identifying and mitigating inattentive or
impaired drivers.
The growing availability of driver-assistance systems has led to a
hodgepodge of different features that vary by model and auto maker,

said Kelly Funkhouser, a vehicle-testing manager who leads coverage of
automated vehicles at Consumer Reports.
“These systems all behave so differently and there are no standards for
performance or design,” she said. “There needs to be more cohesion.”
Write to Mike Colias at Mike.Colias@wsj.com
Copyright © 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit
https://www.djreprints.com.

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Your Next Car May Let You Drive Hands-Free. Is That a Good Thing?

- WSJ 12/26/20, 5)21 PM

BUSINESS | AUTOS & TRANSPORTATION | AUTOS INDUSTRY

Your Next Car May Let You Drive Hands-

Listen to this article

Car companies have been adding safety technologies aimed at

beginning next year on as many as 100,000 F-150 pickup trucks and

Honda said it hasn’t revealed plans to introduce this technology beyond

Meanwhile, Tesla Inc. TSLA 2.44% ▲ said it recently released to some

The $10,000 feature, which

“They allow auto makers to oﬀer really interesting, diﬀerentiated

Consumer Reports recently tested 17 models that combine automated

“If we’re going to put this technology on cars, we need to be mindful of

self-driving because the system isn’t fully autonomous, and advocates

Auto makers have installed camera-based systems that monitor

A recent update improved the driver-monitoring technology, he said. It

A spokesman for the department’s National Highway Traﬃc Safety

The growing availability of driver-assistance systems has led to a

hodgepodge of diﬀerent features that vary by model and auto maker,

Write to Mike Colias at Mike.Colias@wsj.com

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