It goes well for self-driving cars, when it goes straight. At night, it becomes significantly more difficult and especially when turning, researchers behind a new report conclude.
Self-driving cars – or as close as we can get to such a thing today – are still better drivers than humans. That is, when it goes right.
This is the conclusion of some researchers behind a new report published in the journal Nature .
Cars with self-driving features cause fewer accidents than cars driven by humans. But there are also situations where technology falls short of humans.
It is especially during the darkest hours of the night and at dawn that the self-regulating systems have a hard time. Here, the risk of accidents is five times higher than when a person sits with their hands on the steering wheel.
READ ALSO: Legendary Mercedes resurrects with V6 engine and at least 450 hp
The same applied to turns, where the self-correcting systems have twice the risk of going wrong.
An English survey from 2023 also revealed that 7 out of 10 people feel unsafe driving self-driving cars, where there is not at least one person behind the wheel ready to take control.
That the self-driving cars are on the way – and that they are constantly becoming more self-driving – there is hardly any doubt.
In the USA, i.a. Mercedes received permission to raise the level of automated crossing to level 3 out of 5. In return, the brand has promised to take the blame for accidents in that context.
In England, a new law from May this year has made it possible to send 'self-driving cars' onto the roads as early as 2026. The question then is at what level.
If we compare to something, even something like adaptive cruise control with steering input that can keep a car in a lane on the highway is still only level 1.
The current self-driving cars are not without problems either. In October, for example, San Fransisco withdrew the GM brand Cruise's permission to drive around with driverless cars after a series of serious accidents. Read more about it here .
Read more exciting news from and about the world of cars right here!
