Saturday 30 July 2016

Mercedes Bends (the rules)

A couple of Mercedes self-driving stories caught my eye today.

Looks like they've been a bit naughty in their advertising Stateside.  Autoguide have the story here.  Mercedes have been forced to pull a TV ad for the E-Class in  which a narrator says,

“Is the world truly ready for a vehicle that can drive itself? Ready or not, the future is here.”

The ad also shows the driver removing his hands from the steering wheel, leading to the argument that people will believe the car is full self-driving.

Meanwhile the small-print caption on the ad states,

“Vehicle cannot drive itself, but has automated driving features. The system will remind the driver frequently to keep hands on the steering wheel. Always observe safe driving practices and obey all road traffic regulations.”

Hmmm.  I can see why it was dropped.

This doesn't bode well when the you read the second story, found in Car+Driver here.  The headline reads "Mercedes-Benz and Tesla See a Future in Electric Self-Driving Buses"  The story goes on to talk about The Mercedes-Benz Future Bus, a semi-automated city bus with a technology suite that can allow it to journey up to 12.4 miles without a need for the driver to touch the steering, accelerator, or brake pedal. The Future Bus can spot obstacles and pedestrians, follow lane markings, and function as part of a new Bus Rapid Transit system.

It looks nice too...
I wonder what the small-print says - this bus won't journey up to 12.4 miles without a need for the driver to touch the steering, accelerator, or brake pedal and it can't spot obstacles and pedestrians, follow lane markings, and function as part of a new Bus Rapid Transit system?

And I bet it can't do what this Chilean bus-driver did:

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