Self-Driving Cars Are Reality But Still Not Fully Evolved

Brash Tesla boss Elon Musk — always pushing the limits of technology and controversy — promised the full flowering of the autonomous driving era by 2020.

And yet there have been a number of highly publicized Tesla accidents, including fatalities, and the frighteningly comical series of viral videos of Tesla drivers caught literally asleep at the wheel … most recently both a driver and passenger were recorded out cold as their Tesla was doing 50 mph down a freeway.

Most auto-makers have applied autonomous tech to safety, driver assistance and collision avoidance functions, taking a slower course to full self-driving vehicles.

This year Cadillac with its Super Cruise and BMW offering Extended Traffic Jam Assistant are the only brands to offer hands-driving.

Nissan has been notable for its phased-in comprehensive new self-driving tech with its Intelligent Mobility and ProPilot programs.

Using a combination of forward-facing cameras, radar signals, digital sensors, adaptive cruise control, lane centering steering, and sophisticated Safety Shield 360 visual aids, collision avoidance cues and alarms, Nissan has mainstreamed and is upgrading autonomous technology into its Leaf, Rogue and Altima models without proposing fully self-driving.