General Motors recently announced it has expanded the number of miles where users can employ its Super Cruise program and drive hands-free, including on Route 66.
Forbes had some of the details:
The latest upgrade will mark the first time the system can be activated on local roads — typically non-divided state and federal highways with a reasonable amount of traffic. Motorists will be able to drive hands-free on open stretches, though Super Cruise will be deactivated in towns with stoplights and stop signs. On non-divided highways the auto-pass feature also will be disabled.
Among the roads where Super Cruise now will work are U.S. Route 66, California State Route 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway), the Overseas Highway leading to the Florida Keys and the Trans-Canada Highway.
The upgrade will first appear on new 2023 models equipped with Super Cruise. Most older models that feature the technology will receive software updates using smartphone-style over-the-air updates by the end of 2022.
The Detroit Bureau also had this caveat about using Super Cruise while on the Mother Road, noting it “will go on standby when driving through towns or passing through areas with lots of traffic signals and stop signs. And the auto-pass function will be deactivated on those roads.”
CNBC briefly talked to one of GM’s engineers about the technology:
Mario Maiorana, GM chief engineer of Super Cruise, said the company is in routine communication with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the rollout of the additional roadways.
“We’re not going to put it out until we’ve fully tested it,” Maiorana said, taking a slight jab at Tesla, which has been offering in-development “Beta” systems to some owners.
Super Cruise uses different sensors, including cameras and radar, to track what’s happening around the vehicle. It also relies on highly detailed maps produced by LiDAR, a light-detecting sensor that measures distance.
GM calls Super Cruise “driver assistance,” not an autonomous system. So you can’t take a nap while you have it turned on.
The website also stated this:
Super Cruise should never be used under difficult or uncertain driving conditions. That includes never using it in construction zones, when lane markings are poor, when there is limited visibility, in a tunnel, when towing a trailer, on a road shoulder, service drive or lane exiting a freeway or in slippery or other adverse conditions, including rain, sleet, fog, ice or snow.
So using it on primitive roads such as Glenrio Road or Cuervo Cut-off is out, for obvious reasons.
Car and Driver magazine noted “we’re still unsure how the semiconductor shortage could affect Super Cruise’s availability or how it might affect other new models that look to add it.”
More about Super Cruise can be found in a section of GM’s website. Believe it or not, Super Cruise is not a new thing. It’s been around since 2017.
I can see technology such as Super Cruise being a tool for drivers to avoid accidents. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration in a 2016 study found human error accounts for 94% to 96% of all auto crashes.
And Super Cruise could be useful for aging drivers — a substantial portion of Route 66 travelers — whose skills have eroded.
I fully admit to using lane-assistance and object avoidance technology equipped with my new Nissan econobox.
Understandably, there are skeptics.
The Verge wrote: “Public perceptions around AVs and driver-assist technology are not great. People see the headlines about the latest Tesla crash, or they remember the woman who was killed by a self-driving Uber vehicle in 2017, and they conclude that autonomous vehicles are too dangerous for public use.”
Frank Kocevar, who first alerted me to this story, stated Super Cruise is “not my way to travel.”
“Half the fun is driving,” he added.
(Screen-capture image from GM video of a demonstration of the Super Cruise program)
Somewhat below zero interest in cars that drive themselves.