By Jill Ciminillo
Sinclair Broadcast Group
THE FUTURE IS NOW –
Today's Autonomous Cars
February traditionally is one of the
worst weather months in Chicago.
It’s plagued with nasty snow and ice
storms and weather-induced traffic
jams. All this tends to make winter
driving miserable.
Well, what if you could have your
car delivered to your doorstep? Or
if you could watch a movie from the driver’s seat rather
than white-knuckling a snowy commute home? It may
seem like a pipe dream, but it isn’t.
Though industry experts disagree on the timing of self-
driving cars, one thing they do agree on is: It’s coming.
In fact, several autonomous features already exist in cars
you can buy right now. Whether fully autonomous cars
are 1 year or 10 years away, here are some features that
help make driving a little less fretful and a whole lot
safer.
Adaptive cruise control –
Similar to cruise control,
adaptive cruise control lets you set the speed and forget
it. But it’s smarter than regular cruise control because
when you get behind a slower moving car, the ACC
automatically slows you down as well. When the slower
moving traffic clears, then the speed of the car increases
to the previously set limit. Some systems, like those in
the Chrysler 200 and Hyundai Genesis, are so advanced
that they can take the car to a complete stop, and then
bring it back up to speed again. How does it work? ACC
uses radar to measure traffic in front of the vehicle, and
the driver can set the preferred follow distance based on
comfort level – usually between 2 seconds and 4 seconds
of follow time behind the car in front.
Adaptive headlights –
This nifty feature allows the
headlights to swivel at the same time as the steering
wheel, which gives the appearance that the light bends
around corners. Thus, rather than pointing directly
ahead at the bushes or trees as the road turns, you can
actually see what’s around the curve. Some vehicles,
such as those from Mazda and Subaru, even offer
automatic high-beam control, turning your brights on
and off automatically depending on whether there is
oncoming traffic.
Automatic emergency braking –
This feature
is pretty self-explanatory. It is usually a part of an
advanced safety suite of features that tries to help
prevent a crash. Using radar, if the car senses that a
crash is imminent, it can automatically apply braking.
Often it is paired to a visible and audible warning in an
attempt to get the driver to engage. Some systems can
take the car to a complete stop without any aid from the
driver.
Autopilot –
Making a bolder step toward complete
autonomous driving, some automakers are offering
autopilot systems that allow the car to drive almost
completely by itself under certain circumstances.
Mercedes-Benz, for example, currently offers a system
called Intelligent Drive that allows drivers to go hands-
free for about 10 seconds, but a new system revealed
in the 2017 E-Class, called Drive Pilot, will go even
further. It purports to allow hands-free driving for longer
stretches, autonomous passing maneuvers and the ability
to park itself remotely.
Backup collision intervention –
Similar to systems in
play during forward driving, backup collision intervention
pays attention to what’s behind you -- even if you don’t.
Using radar and sonar when in reverse, this system, as
seen in Infiniti vehicles, can detect anything from a car to
a child on a bike. It’ll give audible and visual alerts, and
if the driver doesn’t react, the car will apply the brakes.
Forward collision avoidance –
These systems
initially were offered only on luxury vehicles, but they
are now starting to trickle down to the likes of Mazda
and Kia. They typically include a suite of features such
as automatic emergency braking and forward collision
warnings. Some are less invasive and simply include
audible and visible warnings, and others can exert
emergency interventions such as brake and steering
assists. These systems detect an imminent crash through
More Than100 , 000 Veh i c l es Jus t A Cl i ck Away…Dr i veCh i cago. com
CHICAGO AUTO SHOW 2016
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