driver assist
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Ford's advanced BlueCruise driver assist features will only be available as a subscription
Ford announced today that it’s expanding the availability of its BlueCruise hands-free driving tech. Previously, customers had to decide whether to add the option on available models at purchase — and that decision was final. Now, the service will be installed as standard on all supported vehicles. In addition to enabling it at purchase, owners can add the service later or only activate it for months when needed (like for road trips).
Tesla faces fresh safety probe following fatal accident
Regulators with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are opening a probe involving a fatal crash involving a Tesla Model Y. The accident, occurring on July 19, found a Tesla striking a tractor-trailer truck in Virginia, fatally wounding the driver of the automobile. These regulators believe that the 57-year-old Tesla driver was relying on the company’s advanced driver assistance programs at the time of the accident.
Honda's 'Sensing 360' next-gen driver assist will arrive in the US by 2030
Honda's level 2 Sensing driver assist system could begin pushing level 3 by the end of the decade.
Tesla's FSD driver assist beta is now available to anyone who wants to pay
Tesla is opening up its so-called full self-driving (FSD) beta to anyone who wants it and has paid for it.
Tesla update activates the in-car camera for driver monitoring
New Tesla EVs are ready to use their in-car camera while Autopilot is active to make sure the driver is paying attention.
2022 Honda Civic adds wireless connections for CarPlay, Android Auto
The redesigned 2022 Honda Civic has smarter driver assists to go with available wireless connections for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
Ford's Mustang Mach-E will add hands-free driving with a software update
Ford is planning more driver assists for 2021 vehicles, and its Mustang Mach-E crossover will be one of the first cars to have them. In late 2021, a software update will add 'hands-free' highway driving to its Co-Pilot 360 2.0 features.
Mercedes' new E-Class knows when you're holding the wheel
Mercedes vehicles come with state-of-the-art driver assist features, but with the 2021 E-Class sedans, it wants to make sure you use them properly. As such, it has introduced a new steering wheel with capacitive touch technology that can detect whether your hands are on the wheel.
GM will bring Super Cruise to 22 vehicles by 2023 (updated)
The new Cadillac Escalade was just the start of GM's expansion plans for semi-autonomous tech. Company President Mark Reuss told investors that GM would bring Super Cruise to 22 models by 2023, with 10 of them receiving the driver assistance feature by 2021. The exec didn't mention vehicles by name, but the mix would (to no one's surprise) include pickups and SUVs.
Mazda3 bug activates emergency brake system for no reason
Driver assists can help make our trips much safer, but integrating software decisions into the control of a vehicle could cause serious problems if the system glitches at the wrong time. According to Mazda, "Incorrect programming" in its Smart Braking System (SBS) can make fourth-generation Mazda3 vehicles to falsely detect an object in their path while driving and automatically apply the brakes while driving. The problem affects 35,390 2019 and 2020 model year cars in the US, but Mazda says it is not aware of any injuries or deaths as a result of the defect. If the issue occurs, the driver will notice because their car has suddenly stopped, and also as an alarm sounds and a message is displayed on the in-car warning screen. Some Reddit posters report experiencing situations of the system activating while driving with nothing around, and note that while the system can be disabled, it appears to re-enable itself every time the car starts.
NTSB says Tesla Autopilot was partly to blame for 2018 crash
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) cited both driver error and Tesla's Autopilot design as the probable causes of a January 2018 crash, in which a Model S slammed into a parked fire truck at about 31 mph. According to the report, the driver was distracted and did not see the fire truck. But NTSB says that Tesla's Autopilot was also at fault, as its design "permitted the driver to disengage from the driving task."
Nissan's ProPilot 2.0 driver assist allows hands-off highway driving
Nissan's ProPilot driver assist could comfortably control the car with little to no input already, as Autoblog experienced on a road trip last year, but it still required a driver's hand on the wheel. Now the company has announced ProPilot 2.0 will launch first on its Skyline sedan in Japan, which supports hands-off driving within a single lane. Nissan says its next-gen driver assistance system is a world's first, but we've seen similar technology from Cadillac's Super Cruise over the last two years, which also allows for hands-off operation as long as the car doesn't need to change lanes.
Honda adds driver assist tech to all 2019 Civics
In 2014, Honda added driver-assist technology called Sensing to its higher-end trim packages on select models. The system is part of the automaker's plans to bring Sensing to all its vehicles by 2022 and perfect self-driving cars by 2025. It's available, but not standard, as of 2019 for all Honda vehicles. This year, however, the company will include Sensing safety features for all trim levels of the Civic Sedan and Coupe.
Honda’s Clarity Plug-In Hybrid is a luxury car at a bargain price
The Honda Clarity line is now complete. After introducing the lease-only pure EV back in July, the Plug-In Hybrid and Fuel Cell models are here; I got to test-drive both at a recent event and came away impressed. Besides badges and refueling ports, the Clarity vehicles look identical. But their powertrains are different enough that it's almost like driving three completely different cars.
Ford's next-gen driver assist will swerve before you do
The trickle-down benefits of Ford's autonomous driving technology are making their way into more and more consumer vehicles. While Tesla might get all the headlines with Autopilot, Ford has been quietly rolling out smart, driver-assist features across more of its vehicles than any other manufacturer. Today, the automaker announced a new generation of technologies like evasive steering assist, cross-traffic alerts, pedestrian detection and enhanced self-parking that should make driving a little less stressful and a lot safer for everyone.
IBM researching intelligent, reflexive vehicles
Count IBM in as one of the many companies looking to skyrocket the cost of our future cars, er, protect our lives by developing must-have active safety systems that are sure to become the standard fare in vehicles of the future. Dubbed a research initiative to "equip cars with technologies that can help reduce traffic congestion and prevent accidents," IBM is looking into driver assist technologies that "exchange information with other cars and with the road infrastructure, take corrective action where appropriate, and provide essential feedback to the drivers to help avoid dangerous situations." These electronic reflexes are said to be much quicker than those possessed by humans, and while the team is not trying to replace the need for driver judgment entirely, it is hoping to provide adequate feedback to help the motorist avoid potential perils. No word on when IBM plans on ushering its marketing team into automakers' headquarters, but we'd enjoy the feel of personally steering and accelerating while you still can.[Via Physorg]
