Super Cruise drivers more likely to drive distracted than Autopilot, ProPILOT – IIHS
GM Super Cruise drivers are the most likely to engage in distracted driving behaviors while using partial-automated driving software when compared to Tesla Autopilot and Nissan ProPILOT drivers, according to a new study by IIHS.
The study was based on a survey of drivers who were asked to self report on which driving activities they had performed and felt safe performing while using partially-automated driving software. All three groups reported a higher likelihood to engage in distracted driving tasks while partial automation systems were turned on. Other drive assist systems were not covered in this survey.
Nissan ProPILOT drivers were statistically the least likely to engage in distracted driving tasks, and Super Cruise drivers were most likely on average, though Tesla Autopilot users were more likely to engage in some tasks than Super Cruise drivers were. Super Cruise drivers were the mostly likely to say they were “comfortable treating their systems as self-driving” (53%, compared to 42% for Autopilot and 12% for ProPILOT) when none of the three systems are actually fully self-driving.
The study asked several questions, including comparisons of whether drivers thought certain activities were safe to do with the system on or off, whether drivers thought they were better at certain activities with the systems turned on, and so on. Here we’ll reproduce a table showing which activities drivers reported doing more often with the system turned on, but for other results you’ll have to click through to the study.
| Percent of drivers who do these things more often with system on: | GM Super Cruise | Nissan ProPILOT | Tesla Autopilot |
| Eating | 56 | 18 | 34 |
| Drinking | 35 | 23 | 39 |
| Texting | 45 | 15 | 34 |
| Using phone apps | 8 | 9 | 23 |
| Watching phone videos | 3 | 5 | 20 |
| Using laptop/tablet | 6 | 5 | 18 |
| Talking on cellphone | 48 | 17 | 33 |
| Bluetooth phonecall | 42 | 30 | 45 |
| Talking to passengers | 47 | 29 | 43 |
| Sleeping | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| Hairbrush/makeup/grooming | 11 | 5 | 18 |
| Reading book/paper | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| Hands off wheel (few seconds) | 47 | 15 | 41 |
| Hands off wheel (more than a few seconds) | 35 | 6 | 46 |
| Looking at scenery | 63 | 29 | 47 |
| Looking away from road (more than a few seconds) | 58 | 19 | 39 |
IIHS mentions that this is still early data – it was based on self reporting and is colored by the differing demographics of owners that use these three systems based on the models available that are equipped with them. Tesla and Super Cruise have more male audiences, and Super Cruise tends towards older drivers while Tesla appeals to younger ones (with Nissan having broader appeal). ProPILOT assist users reported using their system more often than Tesla and Super Cruise users.
These demographic reasons could explain why younger and more tech-savvy Autopilot users are more likely to use peripheral devices – phone apps and laptops – than older Super Cruise users.
Most drivers had experienced “attention reminders,” warnings by the system to pay more attention to the road or return their hands to the steering wheel. While some considered these reminders an annoyance, most considered them helpful and said they increase safety of the system. IIHS says this broad consumer acceptance of reminders suggests that distraction reminder systems could be added to more cars without partial automation, as distracted driving is a safety issue regardless of vehicle technology.
Most drivers had also experienced unexpected behavior by the system which required driver intervention, with Autopilot drivers much more likely to experience this unexpected behavior. ProPILOT and Autopilot users were more likely to have had their hands on the wheel when these interventions were needed, and Super Cruise drivers were less likely to have their hands on the wheel (Super Cruise is marketed as a “hands free” system, but the others require occasional steering input).
IIHS cautions drivers to be aware of the limitations of partial driving automated systems and not to exceed those limits. It also calls for more research into driving behaviors while using these systems to better understand whether drivers are using them appropriately and how consumers can be better educated about their capabilities.
Electrek’s Take
The data here is interesting, and shines a little more light on the various sensationalist video clips we’ve seen of Tesla drivers sleeping or reports saying Autopilot has the most ADAS crashes (despite also having the most miles driven on these systems). And on the other hand, it’s also more granular than Tesla’s quarterly Autopilot safety report, which merely does a naive comparison between miles driven on Autopilot vs. overall vehicle safety, without taking into account driving conditions, demographics, age of vehicle, other safety systems, and so on.
It stands to reason that drivers are more likely to engage in these tasks while driving. If you need to grab something from the backseat, look at a sign that’s difficult to read, make a phonecall, etc., then it’s better to do those things with a system backing you up than not. Nobody can expect perfect attention from every driver for every moment, though we can work to minimize driver distraction and fatigue and make sure that there are backups and warnings available to help drivers in moments of inattention.
I’m sure most drivers here who have used these systems have been more likely to engage in some of the tasks listed above. On my recent 2,200 mile roadtrip, I talked through bluetooth and to passengers, drank and ate some snacks, had my hands off the wheel for more than a few seconds, and looked at scenery. When on curvy or crowded roads, I’d be fully engaged, but on open straight roads or when in slow traffic, I did not feel unsafe letting Autopilot manage things while I did something else for a few seconds (or rested my foot).
At the end of the day, responsibility for the car still lies with the driver, and these systems can be used as tools to make driving safer and better or abused in ways that make headlines. More research like this will not only improve how we implement these systems, as IIHS mentions, but will hopefully also result in less sensationalist reporting on their capabilities (or lack thereof).
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At CES2025, the impressively built-out John Deere exhibit was all about automation. Autonomous job sites, autonomous farms … but it was this new, battery electric, autonomous lawn mowing robot that stole the show.
The self-driving Deere mower robot was positively dwarfed by the giant farm machinery surrounding it, but it continues to prove that humans will pack bond with anything as more than one burly-looking and grizzled man asked what its name was. (It’s Howard. I’ll fight you.)
For his part, Howard packs a 21.4 kWh battery pack that runs a suite of electric motors that includes a drive motor and three cutting blade motors spread across a 60 inch cutting deck – but it’s not the electric motors that make John Deere’s little robot mower cool, it’s the way it works.
See, instead of using “just” GPS data or “just” repeating a pre-recorded run, Howard can do something in between. The way it was explained to me, you would ride the stand-up mower around the perimeter of the area you wanted to mow, select a pattern, then hop off, fold up the platform, and let it loose. Howard mows just the way you would, leaving you to focus on edging, planting, or (let’s face it) schmoozing with the clients.
It’s exactly the sort of help landscapers are looking for.
But that should come as no surprise, of course. John Deere, perhaps more than most companies, knows its customer. “We’ve been in the turf business for 60 years — it’s a core part of Deere,” says Jahmy Hindman, chief technology officer at John Deere, explaining things beautifully. “The work that’s being done in this industry is incredibly labor intensive … they’re not just doing the mowing work. They’re doing the tree trimming, maintaining flowerbeds and all these other jobs. The mowing is table stakes, though, for them to get the business. It’s the thing they have to do in order to get the higher value work.”
Tim Lewis, lead engineer with the commercial automatous mower, told Lawn & Landscape that the industry in general has a high turnover rate as well, making it difficult to hang to people who know where one job ends and another begins. “There’s a lot of nuances it takes to do these jobs effectively,” he explains, “so “Autonomy can help with that.”
The John Deere autonomous commercial mower (there’s no snazzy alphanumeric, yet) leverages the same camera technology as other Deere autonomous machines, but on a smaller scale (since the machine has a smaller footprint). With two cameras each on the front, left, right, and rear sides of the little guy, he has a 360-degree view of the world and enough AI to lay down a pattern, avoid an obstacle, and shut off if it thinks it’s about to mow down something (read: someone) it shouldn’t.
John Deere will have Howard on display through tomorrow at CES in the LVCC’s West Hall. If you’re in town, be sure to go say hi.
John Deere CES2025
SUOURCE | IMAGES: John Deere; Electrek.
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Tesla has officially unveiled the Model Y “Juniper” refresh, less than a day after uncamouflaged photos of the vehicle leaked online.
The refreshed Model Y, codenamed Juniper, has been expected for some time, and was expected to include many of the improvements of the 2023 Model 3 refresh.
In October, Chinese social media said the refresh was about to enter trial production, and just days later we saw a photo of the refreshed Model Y outside the Shanghai factory. Then last month, we heard that mass production would start in Shanghai in January, so we can expect that very soon as well.
And while Tesla said in 2024 that there’s no Model Y refresh coming “this year”, 2024 is over now, and the refresh is here.
Today, Tesla updated its Chinese website with all the information about the refreshed Model Y, with many of the same improvements as the Model 3 refresh like a quieter cabin, higher efficiency, more performance, ambient lighting and a rear screen.
According to Tesla’s site, the new Model Y can achieve 719km of range (446mi) in Long-range AWD spec with 19-inch wheels, but this is based in CLTC estimates, which are much more lenient than EPA. Previously the highest-range spec had 688km CLTC range, so that’s about a 20-mile improvement.
The 20″ wheels on the long range version will take you 662km, and RWD standard-range batteries will go 593km or 559km on the 19″ and 20″ wheels respectively.
We imagine this could translate to roughly ~350 miles of range on the top-spec Model Y on EPA ratings, but we’ll have to see when the car gets released in the US.
Acceleration has also been improved, with Tesla saying the large-battery AWD Model Y can achieve 0-100km/h (0-62mph) in 4.3 seconds, down from a previous 4.9. The RWD version does the same sprint in 5.9 seconds. Both of these numbers would be slightly shorter for 0-60 times, because of those extra 2mph at the end.
There is no performance version yet – just as with the post-refresh Model 3, which didn’t get a performance spec until later.
The exterior design is just as leaked photos suggested, with the same rear end we saw in leaks in July and the front end that we saw earlier today. Though now we get to see it in higher resolution and better lighting.
The front-end includes a Cybercab/Cybertruck-like “light bar” rather than the more traditional-looking headlights of the Model 3 refresh, and has been narrowed to remove the “duck lip” bump at the front of the hood.
Also on the front end is a new front bumper camera (again, like the Cybertruck, but unlike the Model 3), which should help with parking and also offer an additional point-of-view for Tesla’s Autopilot software. The inclusion of this camera, while it will improve Autopilot accuracy, does lead to questions over whether previously vehicles that don’t have a front bumper camera will be able to achieve the same level of accuracy as refreshed vehicles do.
And the interior design changes are also roughly as expected, though the steering wheel has undergone less radical changes than some had hoped.
Earlier today, photos leaked suggesting that the Model Y would receive a similar “squircle” steering wheel as the Cybertruck, leading to speculation that it might also receive the Cybertruck’s steer-by-wire system. But it turned out that those photos were just a Model 3 with a custom steering wheel.
The actual interior of the Model Y maintains a circular steering wheel, which suggests that it won’t get steer by wire (the steer-by-wire specification isn’t listed on Tesla’s Chinese site for the car).
It does however have photos showing missing steering column stalks, which has been a controversial feature of the Model 3.
However, looking closer at the steering wheel, the turn signal buttons from the Model 3 are not present. It looks like Tesla may have included a vestigial turn signal stalk hiding behind the steering wheel, and just deleted the PRND drive mode stalk.
This is still a controversial change, as changing drive modes through the screen isn’t the most popular feature, but the turn signal deletion was particularly egregious and it’s good to see it back. We wonder if the Model 3 might eventually gain this improvement, or whether this will be different in different regions.
Tesla says the new “acoustic glass” in the Model Y reduces interior noise significantly. The Model 3 also got this improvement, and testing does show a significant improvement in interior noise levels as a result.
The Model Y receives other interior improvements seen on the 3, like a screen for the rear seat. The Cybertruck also includes this screen.
This shot also shows the ambient lighting LED strip across the dash, which can be customized through the vehicle’s UI.
Another rear-end improvement is electric rear seats, operated through a button in the trunk. This button gives easier access to rear storage space, allowing owners to fold the rear seats up or down while loading or unloading cargo.
Tesla’s Chinese website calls these “anti-gravity” seats, but it’s unclear what exactly the improvements might be in this respect. The seats are ventilated.
First deliveries are scheduled for March in China, subject regulatory approval, though Tesla’s configurator says “the specific delivery date will vary depending on the configuration and pick-up location and other reasons.”
Tesla is offering a “Launch series” in China, something that Tesla has done with many of its cars, but hasn’t done before in the US with the Model 3/Y. It includes some unique design elements and “Launch series” badging in various parts of the vehicle.
As for other regions, they will probably have to wait. The Model 3 refresh came out in Europe first, and the US needed to wait months for it. This is particularly likely now given new US tariffs on Chinese-built cars (which are a bad idea).
Electrek’s Take
As I wrote in the Take section of our leaked photos article earlier today, this refresh is needed, because not only has the Model 3 had access to lots of improvements that the Model Y hasn’t gotten for the last year and a half or so, but Tesla is having a challenging time with sales right now.
The company just finished a year where its sales dropped for the first time since 2011 – back when Tesla only sold the low-production Roadster. This happened despite the overall global EV market surging to new heights, even though Tesla, the world’s largest EV maker (just barely), did its part to drag down the EV market by failing to grow apace with the rest.
Part of the reason for this is due to stale models – while the Model Y is Tesla’s best-selling model, it’s starting to seem a little long in the tooth, particularly given the Model 3’s upgrades. So we wondered earlier today whether the Model Y refresh could reignite Tesla’s growth.
But it’s not just about models. After all, Tesla did just finish its first full year of Cybertruck production, which is a new model, but its polarizing nature led to disappointing sales numbers.
That polarization is not helped by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is doing his best to harm the company and say phenomenally stupid things or make ridiculous promises basically every day (or every few minutes). His idiotic behavior is turning away customers, whether he believes it or not.
Maybe the company – not the stock – would be better off if he surrendered his title and let Tesla have a real CEO, so he can go play videogames on twitter all day instead (as he already does).
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