√Autonomous car expert says human input still essential

While the dream for autonomous cars is to operate without input from drivers, a major player in the industry believes intervention by humans – either remotely or from behind the wheel – will remain necessary for road safety.

The CEO of a US autonomous car company says driverless vehicles – with no steering wheel or pedals – may need to be controlled remotely by a human, if the car can’t navigate out of a jam or a dangerous situation.

Autonomous cars – which require no driving control input from their occupants – have become one of the biggest developmental challenges for modern transport.

While autonomous driving technology is improving and becoming closer to replicating reactions by human drivers, a number of companies developing autonomous cars employ a team of people who remotely supervise and can intervene if the vehicle enters a situation it is not prepared for.

In an interview with news agency Reuters, Kyle Vogt – CEO of General Motors-owned autonomous car company Cruise – said remote human input was crucial to the operation of the company’s vehicles.

When asked by Reuters about whether remote human supervisors would be removed from the operation of autonomous cars, Mr Vogt responded, “Well, my question would be, ‘Why?'”

“I can provide my customers peace of mind knowing there is always a human there to help if needed. I don’t know why I’d ever want to get rid of that.”

Based in San Francisco, Cruise made headlines earlier this year when footage emerged of an empty autonomous Chevrolet Bolt operated by the company was pulled over by police, before appearing to drive away.

In addition to this, 80 Cruise autonomous cars were recalled earlier this month for a software update after it was found the fleet’s current systems would “incorrectly predict” the path of an oncoming vehicle.

The recall was triggered by a June 2022 crash in San Francisco involving a Cruise autonomous car which turned across the path of another vehicle – travelling at 15mph (24km/h) above the 25mph (40km/h) speed limit – resulting in two people becoming injured.

An investigation by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found the autonomous car’s software could “in certain circumstances when making an unprotected left, cause the (autonomous driving system) to incorrectly predict another vehicle’s path or be insufficiently reactive to the sudden path change of a road user.”

In 2018, Cruise applied for US government approval to produce an autonomous car with no steering wheel, brake or accelerator pedals, planning to launch the vehicle in 2019.

Dubbed Origin, the driverless pod with train-style side doors is not expected to launch until mid-2023.

As reported last month, General Motors has lost approximately $US5 million ($AU7.3 million) a day through its investment in Cruise, not including the initial buy-in cost of more than $US5 billion ($7.3 billion).

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