Over the years, cruise control has been a steadily evolving feature. It started simply as a function to hold one’s speed on the highway to ease driver fatigue. Lately, automakers have started implementing systems that start to take away some of the basic challenges of driving, such as radar guided cruise control and park assist. All of these new advancements edge us closer and closer to fully autonomous vehicles, which in turn, will force us to start trusting these unfamiliar electronic systems.

General Motors (GM) just recently announced that by the year 2020, they want to offer consumers vehicles that have the ability to automatically follow road lanes without any input from the driver. 

Do you realize what this means? A driver would just have to simply drive to the highway, activate the autonomous system and from there the car would do all the work.

If you think that’s wild, Nissan seems to be aiming higher than GM. At the Nissan 360 event (a large test drive and stakeholder interaction event held in Southern California), Nissan showed off their electric Leaf vehicle equipped with its full autonomous system.  They demonstrated it by having the cars drive through a simulated urban environment without any input by a human being whatsoever. What was even more impressive is that they were that confident in their technologies to carry automotive journalists as passengers. 

Nissan’s system works differently than GMs. GM wants you to drive to the highway and from there sit back and relax; while Nissan wants you to sit back and relax from the moment you leave your driveway. 

These systems aren’t without their own flaws. The biggest challenge for these manufacturers is to avoid system malfunctions. If they were to break down – the driver must be aware of what’s happening on the road ahead to react in time.  One little glitch could create a major catastrophe making it hard to solely rely on technology. 

The more we rely on these systems, the more we place our lives in its hands as they pilot our vehicles. The driverless cars bring created today still don’t possess the capabilities of handling the unexpected, forcing us to still have our eyes peeled on the road. So in a sense, they’re only an advanced version of cruise control with additional functions.

Autonomous cars are a truly fascinating technology and it brings us closer to a reality that only existed in science fiction books and movies. GM, Nissan and numerous others are hard at work to drive us around without lifting a finger. Autonomous cars might be the way of the future, but for now these systems should be designed strictly to ease the load of long drives rather than remove driving altogether.