The truth about self-driving cars

DEFINING AUTOMATED DRIVING DRIVING IS A MUCH MORE COMPLEX ACTIVITY than most people appreciate. It involves a broad range of skills and actions, some of which are easier to automate than others. Maintaining speed on an open road is simple, which is why conventional cruise-control systems have been doing it automatically for decades. As technology has advanced, engineers have been able to automate additional driving subtasks. Widely available adaptive cruise-control systems now maintain proper speed and spacing behind other vehicles. Lane-keeping systems, such as those in new models from Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti, use cameras, sensors and steering control to keep a vehicle centered in its lane. Cars are pretty smart these days. Yet it is an enormous leap from such systems to fully automated driving.