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  • This is Volvo's 360c concept car,

  • and it's just one idea of what completely driverless cars

  • might look like one day.

  • That means cars without even a steering wheel

  • that can safely navigate public roads

  • entirely on their own.

  • But with how much we hear about self-driving technology

  • making its way into everyday cars, it's hard not to wonder:

  • How much longer do we have to wait?

  • Understanding just how far we've come

  • with self-driving technology can be a bit tricky.

  • To help define how sophisticated

  • the automated technology actually is,

  • the Society of Automotive Engineers

  • classifies these systems using five levels.

  • Level 1 is driver assistance,

  • where the vehicle is able to control steering or braking

  • but not both simultaneously.

  • Level 2 is partial automation,

  • where the car can assist with

  • both steering and braking simultaneously,

  • but your attention is required on the road at all times.

  • Both Tesla's Autopilot and General Motors' Super Cruise

  • are examples of this.

  • Level 3 is conditional automation,

  • where certain circumstances allow the car

  • to handle most aspects of driving

  • and the driver has the ability to temporarily

  • take their eyes off the road.

  • Level 4 is high automation,

  • where, in the right conditions,

  • the car can take full control,

  • giving the driver a chance to focus on other tasks.

  • And Level 5 is full automation.

  • In this hypothetical situation, the car drives you,

  • and there isn't even a steering wheel.

  • So, what level are we currently at?

  • Most experts would agree:

  • somewhere between Levels 2 and 3.

  • However, one of their biggest concerns

  • is the public's misconception that we're much further along.

  • Bryan Reimer: There's an incredible amount of confusion

  • in the general public around the context of self-driving.

  • In our survey data here, about 23% of respondents believe

  • that a self-driving vehicle is available for purchase today.

  • And a lot of that has to do with statements by Elon Musk

  • and others talking about the driverless capabilities

  • and the self-driving capabilities of vehicles.

  • These are systems that are made to assist the driver

  • under the supervision of a driver.

  • Narrator: So, is it simply the limits

  • of these automated systems that's holding us back?

  • Actually, there are a number of other factors in the way.

  • For starters, our roads.

  • Simply put, many roads, especially in the United States,

  • are too much of a mess to support cars

  • that can drive by themselves.

  • Reimer: So, while many individuals out there

  • are really working on the development

  • of self-reliant automation, in essence,

  • a robot that's fully capable of making its own decisions

  • in today's infrastructure, the reality is,

  • today's infrastructure is not well equipped for autonomy.

  • In essence, potholes, poor lane markings,

  • and all the other crumbling aspects

  • of our nation's infrastructure

  • aren't going to support high-tech well.

  • Narrator: In addition to more public roads

  • needing signs and lane markings

  • that self-driving cars can clearly make out,

  • vehicles need to be wirelessly connected

  • with that traffic infrastructure, as well as one another,

  • in order to interact with the world around them flawlessly.

  • Fortunately, automakers like Volvo already have technology

  • that allows their cars to communicate with each other

  • and alert drivers of hazards via a cloud-based network.

  • This type of connected technology

  • is being tested even further

  • within driverless cars at Mcity,

  • a 32-acre mock city and testing facility

  • at the University of Michigan.

  • Greg McGuire: So, what are connected vehicles?

  • When we say "connected" at Mcity,

  • we're really referring not to streaming Netflix

  • into your passenger seat so much,

  • that's a pretty solved problem in the industry,

  • but in how vehicles and infrastructure

  • can be connected together

  • for lots of other benefits, like safety.

  • The idea is a low-latency way for vehicles

  • to tell other vehicles

  • and anything else that wants to listen

  • where they are and where they're going.

  • Narrator: So, once traffic infrastructure

  • and communication is handled,

  • what else do we need to address?

  • Well, traffic laws.

  • Governments have a number of important decisions to make

  • in society's transition to self-driving vehicles.

  • In the beginning stages, they'll have to define

  • what weather conditions are appropriate

  • for vehicles to be operating fully autonomously.

  • This is due to the fact that many of these car systems

  • can be disrupted by rain and snow.

  • One industry they could look to for guidance

  • is the airline industry,

  • who doesn't hesitate to cancel flights in inclement weather.

  • They'll also have to initially find a way

  • for autonomous vehicles to safely navigate public roads

  • amongst traditional cars.

  • A possible solution could be designated lanes,

  • similar to the high-occupancy-vehicle lanes

  • found on highways

  • and bus lanes found in certain cities.

  • Ayoub Aouad: The government's kind of leaving it up to

  • states to decide what's going on,

  • just because the technology's

  • so new and they still don't really understand

  • what it's going to look like in the end.

  • Once the government does fully get involved,

  • the federal government,

  • they're gonna have to speak to lobbyists,

  • people that represent truck drivers and taxi commissions.

  • And they're gonna realize that, you know,

  • a lot of jobs could be lost,

  • and that's going to be difficult.

  • And then, also, liability.

  • If these cars are on the roads

  • and they're getting into accidents, like, who is liable?

  • Narrator: With all of these things considered,

  • back to our original question:

  • How soon until we have self-driving cars?

  • Aouad: I'd say within the decade it's gonna be on highways,

  • but if we're talking about being able

  • to take your car wherever you want across the United States,

  • being able to travel through New York City

  • and sleep the whole time,

  • I don't think we're anywhere close to that.

  • Probably several decades away from that.

  • Reimer: You know, car makers and tech companies

  • are very heavily focused

  • on the context of driverless technologies.

  • Now, I'm not saying that that's not the future.

  • It is the future.

  • But, as many have begun to admit publicly,

  • that future is further away than anybody's

  • realistically considered to date.

  • We as humans are really good at predicting the future;

  • we're not so good at the timelines.

  • And the timelines to driverless technology

  • changing how I live and move

  • is probably in the order of several decades,

  • if not further away.

  • McGuire: How close are we to the Jetson's car?

  • We're still a ways away, in my opinion.

  • It isn't really a matter of when these technologies

  • will arrive, to me, but can we be ready

  • and utilize them in the best way possible.

This is Volvo's 360c concept car,

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