I struggled to find the NYTimes article I want to comment from. Turns out it 's over a month old, on-line, but just published in the print version today. It's a ride-along with the owner of a Tesla self-driving car, something of a beta test as they try to improve their software to be safe for wide release. The owner has a specific location which apparently gives the current software fits, a left turn with 3 lanes of on-coming traffic into a specific lane of another 3-lane road.
My reaction to the description: it's good enough for me to buy. I've leased my last two cars, on the mistaken assumption that I might not be driving in the future (the future keeps receding, but it's coming). Anyhow, that means I know I've driven about 5500 miles in 2 years. Granted that part of the figure is the result of reduced activity from the pandemic, but as I age I drive less.
More importantly, the proportion of my driving which occurs on routes I've used before keeps increasing. I don't know what it is, but likely 95 percent or more. That means if I buy a self-driving car it can quickly become familiar with my routes, and familiarity means the software can handle more and more situations. Also, as an older driver I'm more cautious than the average bear (much to the aggravation of some of my fellow drivers), so I'm both more likely to pay attention to the car's operation and less likely to be frustrated as the car responds to new situations by slowing and/or stopping--something which I've seen reported as a problem.
So the bottom line, there's a niche out there to sell self-driving cars; it just needs to be identified. Once such cars get into the niche, the process of expanding their capabilities to expand the niche can proceed much faster.
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