I am impressed, but the main problem remains: If the system does NOT understand something, it relies on the driver to do the right thing. Which won't work, because you have not being paying attention, because it is too boring. Result: Accident.

Very interesting behind the scenes look.

#1 very boring. I don't anticipate using it in my lifetime. I like the act of driving. It's pleasurable much of the time. Perhaps in bumper to bumper traffic it might make sense.

#1 and #2, it does seem boring and although it appears very clever, I agree that driver awareness is at a low because of reliance on the computer. If not reliant, why have it. Driving is part of your life so why not enjoy it. Unless you are paying attention, you are not in control and that is dangerous. In the event of an accident, who is responsible? A computer? The manufacturer? The driver? And what is to say the driver was in control and had the accident but then blamed the computer.
Sonmetimes good ideas have fatal flaws. Yin and Yang.

The test will be when these systems prove to be so good that driver intervention is not required and safety levels increase to such a degree that accidents just don't happen. New designs for cities keeping pedestrians away from roads, speeds will increase, destination times will be shortened, no pollution levels, carbon footprints down to nothing and then you won't have a choice whether you drive or not, you just won't have the option. You will have to go to a track to drive a variety of old cars for a few hours, but no one will know how to drive, you will have to be taught to drive even an automatic electric car. All the petrol and diesels will be long gone or in museums, people will eventually lose interest in going to see those, they will be irrelevant to life in the future...... Just a thought

Here's some interesting data: According to the tesla vehicle safety report, there are a lot less accidents with autopilot enabled.
"In the 1st quarter [2020], we registered one accident for every 4.68 million miles driven in which drivers had Autopilot engaged. For those driving without Autopilot but with our active safety features, we registered one accident for every 1.99 million miles driven. For those driving without Autopilot and without our active safety features, we registered one accident for every 1.42 million miles driven. By comparison, NHTSA’s most recent data shows that in the United States there is an automobile crash every 479,000 miles."

So although the computer doesn't understand anything, it is still a much better driver than the average human. Probably because computers don't have egos, don't drive under the influence, don't suffer from unvoluntary microsleep, don't use the phone while driving, don't change lanes without looking, etc etc. There would be even less accidents with autopilot, if humans wouldn't sometimes walk on the road for no good reason and (more importantly) drive other cars.

I bet that having all cars run on autopilot all the time and banning people from the drivers seat would significantly reduce accidents as of today. That's such a huge benefit that insurance issues with the remaining accidents (yes there will still be accidents) seem like a solvable problem to me. So if we wanted to, we could start the transformation right now and live Judge-Jakes's future only a few years from now. I find that driving keeps me from doing things that actually matter to me, so I'd like that very much, but I doubt there is much public support. :c)

Cheers,
Andi

p.s. first post after watching & reading snotr for well over ten years, yeah!

When this technology proves itself in all-conditions-all-year-around. Then i start to be amazed.

I tried that once. Perhaps not with Tesla, but a self driving bus around the City Hall. About 300 meters and the roads surrounding the City Hall were closed. If all those tests go well, they may include those buses for local distances.