Here’s my navigation screen as I drove south on Interstate 5 towards the city in heavy traffic today. It was 2.01 pm and 85 ° F (29.5 ° C) outside.
I am getting more confident using the standard autopilot function of my car (that is, autosteer to stay in the lane, and using adaptive cruise control).
(Apologies for the Moiré pattern in the picture). Lots of trucks around me, and we’re down to 14 mph. (To the right of the ’14’ it says that the car’s cameras read the speed limit as 60 mph. My top speed setting is +5 mph above the speed limit. So the car will not exceed 65 mph). Autopilot keeps me centered in the lane, and keeps 3 car lengths between me and the vehicle in front of me. (The gap can be adjusted all the way up to 7 car lengths, but then you frustrate the drivers behind you, since it appears as if you’re not paying attention to the traffic in front of you!). I still have to keep my hands on the wheel, even though the car steers, accelerates & brakes by itself. There’s a motorcycle in front of me. Traffic soon ground to a halt, and the motorcyclist had to put his feet on the highway as he stopped. Then traffic ahead started moving again, and my car automatically followed. Very nice!