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Cars are driving themselves all over American roads. How worried should we be?

A picture taken on shows engineer Alexey keeping his hands on his knees as the self-driving car, developed by Russian internet giant Yandex, moves along a road in Moscow.
A picture taken on shows engineer Alexey keeping his hands on his knees as the self-driving car, developed by Russian internet giant Yandex, moves along a road in Moscow.

Imagine you’re cruising down the highway and your car is so smart that you can just push a button, let go of the wheel, take your foot off the gas, and the car will drive itself.

It’ll keep to the speed you want and stay at a safe distance from the car in front of you. It’ll stay in your lane and even slam on the brakes to avoid an accident. 

Well, you don’t have to imagine it. Many newer cars have some version of this cruise control on steroids. And people are already using it, everywhere. 

And one company has pushed this almost self-driving technology more aggressively than the rest.  

Tesla’s rapid rollout of its self-driving systems has led to consequences. A new Washington Post analysis of crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that Tesla’s autopilot was involved in 736 crashes since 2019, including 11 fatalities since May 2022. 

How safe are the driver-assist technologies already on the road today? How close are we to a world where humans no longer drive?

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Amanda Williams