Earlier this month, I was changing lanes on Bay Area highways with just the push of a turn signal in a Cadillac Escalade with the latest version of Super Cruise.
I didn’t have to check my blind spot or quickly accelerate to get over. The massive SUV did all that for me once its cameras, radars, and sensing equipment determined it was safe to do so. Once centered in the new lane I turned the indicator off, put my hands back in my lap, and the car continued to drive me along.
Super Cruise is a driver assistance technology that’s been available in certain Cadillac models since 2017 and is coming to more GM cars in the future, with 22 vehicle types slated to be equipped with the hands-free driving system by 2023.
Super Cruise and other assistance tools like Nissan’s ProPilot Assist and Tesla’s Autopilot, which also automatically steer, brake and accelerate, are available to complement your driving, not replace it. The names might convey a stronger sense of autonomy, but all three are merely assistance systems.
A January survey from online car shopping site Autolist.com found that 36 percent of 3,380 car buyers think self-driving features like Super Cruise make a car safer. Another 36 percent of respondents said it does the opposite. I found myself falling into a false sense of security while using Super Cruise. It felt like I was in a self-driving car as it smoothly slowed down when someone cut me off, but technically I was still the driver.
Super Cruising
GM’s system accelerates, brakes, keeps the car in the lane, and changes lanes as part of an enhanced, updated version available in the new Cadillac Escalade. An attention tracking system in the front seat, including infrared emitters and a camera on the steering wheel, monitors eye gaze and head position, so you can take your hands off the wheel. All monitoring is only used in the moment and no biometric data is stored or saved. Even if you’re wearing sunglasses, the system knows if you’re texting or looking through your music playlist.
All the ways Super Cruise makes sure you’re paying attention.
Image: cadillac
Super Cruise works on more than 200,000 miles of highway across the U.S. and Canada. Certain stretches of highway with bad road markings or construction might not let you use the Super Cruise system. A button on the steering wheel turns it on, and a message pops up on the screen if it’s unavailable.
I experienced the glowing steering wheel with its different colors, which is supposed to make it easier to know whether you’re needed at the wheel or if the car has a handle on it. Green means you can you let go, which happens only when you’re on a highway where GM has collected map data and you’re centered in the lane with good visibility.
I triggered the red light bar, flashing warning, and blaring disengagement alert when I brought out my phone and tried to film Super Cruise in action. The driver monitoring system determined I wasn’t paying attention and for the rest of the ride I lost my Super Cruise privileges. I was locked out of all automated driving and had to drive myself. Here’s the system escalating to code red within 30 seconds:
My time-out made me trust the system even more the next time I was in the vehicle. Super Cruise wasn’t messing around. If I wasn’t fully present for a few seconds too long, the system would notice. The attention monitoring wasn’t just safety theater; it was determining if the situation was safe enough.
But there I was getting lulled into a false sense of safety again. Just because Super Cruise caught me looking at a phone screen instead of the road doesn’t mean it knows everything that’s going on inside the car or what’s going to happen next. The system isn’t taking over driving for you, so if the car ahead suddenly swerves or roadkill blocks your lane, you better be ready to jump to attention.
The competition
Other advanced driving systems also let drivers sit back and feel like they’re in a self-driving car on major streets and highways. But like Super Cruise, these only offer some automated driving assistance features.
Tesla has had Autopilot on its cars since 2016, but it wasn’t until the end of last year that the company released a beta version of its “full self-driving” mode on its driving assistance system, Autopilot. Known as FSD, it can drive a Tesla on its own on the highway and major surface streets. It’s available in many more places than Super Cruise, which has only been used for 7 million miles total. Autopilot has logged 3 billion miles as of April 2020.
Unlike Super Cruise, there’s no eye monitoring or distraction detection. Instead, Tesla trusts that the driver is paying attention. The new FSD isn’t even fully driverless like the name suggests. You have to keep your eyes on the road as the car accelerates, brakes, takes turns, and stops at stop signs and follows traffic signals. But Tesla is less aggressive than Super Cruise, gradually warning drivers with visual and auditory cues to regain control of the car.
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Back in November, I tried Nissan’s enhanced ProPilot Assist system in the 2021 Nissan Rogue SUV. It’s more like Autopilot in that you have to keep your hands on the wheel and it works off the highway on main thoroughfares and some bigger surface streets. There’s no eye tracking like in the Cadillac, but there are sensors on the steering wheel to sense your hands are always in contact.
The Nissan ProPilot Assist is ready to drive.
Image: sasha lekach / mashable
Hands off the wheel in the Cadillac with Super Cruise.
Image: sasha lekach / mashable
Just like with Super Cruise, Nissan’s driving assistance reinforced you have to be 100 percent alert, even if it feels like you’re in a self-driving car. The automated steering and driving can switch off at any moment if there’s a confusing road marking or poorly maintained lines. Since there was less driver monitoring than with Super Cruise, I made sure to be constantly looking around and ahead with my foot on the brake, hands on the wheel, ready to take over.
I spent more time with ProPilot Assist than I did Super Cruise, so I saw how you can get used to the extra assistance and start to rely on it too much. When on a main road near my house I would hit the ProPilot Assist button and expect it to handle the stop-and-go traffic instead of me. Given more time with Super Cruise, I bet I’d depend on the car to change lanes for me every time.
But no matter which of these driver assistance systems you’re using, it’s a not an autonomous vehicle even if it feels like one in the moment. You’ll need to take the wheel eventually. I’ll have to change lanes on my own. True full self-driving cars aren’t for sale yet.