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I've read a couple of posts on this forum about using the Lane Keeping Assistant System (LKAS) in conjunction with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and fooling the steering wheel into thinking my hands are on it by propping a plastic bottle into its bottom area to create a kind of autonomous driving experience. (Can't find those posts now.) Well, I did just that the other day on a stretch of I-70 in Missouri for about 100 miles. I'd like to share my experience.
First of all, it was successful and it exceeded my expectations. Most of the way (a total of about 100 miles and fairly straight) there was very little traffic (except the last 15 or so miles), and I knew that would be the case which is why I experimented on this highway. I kept my ACC speed at 65 mph (70 mph posted speed). I stayed in the right lane the entire time. My hands were always ready to take over if necessary. There were 6-7 times that I had to intervene by taking over the steering wheel, but only a little. Four of these interventions involved off-ramps and I was expecting this. When approaching the off-ramp, the car followed the white line on the right side that veered off the interstate. Each time I had to make a small adjustment to stay the course. However, for most of the off-ramps, the car stayed its course. Twice the shoulder line became blurred to the camera of the car, both times around corners, and the car veered off of onto the shoulder. I made the small steering adjustment to get back on track. Never did the car veer to its left into the left-hand lane. And the ACC kept a safe distance to cars in front as expected. By the way, I was the only one in the car.
Sitting in the driver's seat knowing that the car was driving itself down the road felt surreal, bizarre, and strange. And in some ways, it felt futuristic. On straight stretches with very little traffic, I felt like I could safely look around and enjoy the surroundings more than usual and I did just that. However, I was well aware of the importance of staying alert which I also did. I wondered at times if I was the first human being to drive "autonomously" on that stretch of road. I thought maybe I was making history.
Who knows?
By the way,*I did a Google search on "is autonomous driving legal" and found this below.
There are no laws in Missouri that pertain to self-driving vehicles, so self-driving cars are not explicitly prohibited in the state
Here's the link. - https://www.lifewire.com/are-self-driving-cars-legal-4587765
First of all, it was successful and it exceeded my expectations. Most of the way (a total of about 100 miles and fairly straight) there was very little traffic (except the last 15 or so miles), and I knew that would be the case which is why I experimented on this highway. I kept my ACC speed at 65 mph (70 mph posted speed). I stayed in the right lane the entire time. My hands were always ready to take over if necessary. There were 6-7 times that I had to intervene by taking over the steering wheel, but only a little. Four of these interventions involved off-ramps and I was expecting this. When approaching the off-ramp, the car followed the white line on the right side that veered off the interstate. Each time I had to make a small adjustment to stay the course. However, for most of the off-ramps, the car stayed its course. Twice the shoulder line became blurred to the camera of the car, both times around corners, and the car veered off of onto the shoulder. I made the small steering adjustment to get back on track. Never did the car veer to its left into the left-hand lane. And the ACC kept a safe distance to cars in front as expected. By the way, I was the only one in the car.
Sitting in the driver's seat knowing that the car was driving itself down the road felt surreal, bizarre, and strange. And in some ways, it felt futuristic. On straight stretches with very little traffic, I felt like I could safely look around and enjoy the surroundings more than usual and I did just that. However, I was well aware of the importance of staying alert which I also did. I wondered at times if I was the first human being to drive "autonomously" on that stretch of road. I thought maybe I was making history.
Who knows?By the way,*I did a Google search on "is autonomous driving legal" and found this below.
There are no laws in Missouri that pertain to self-driving vehicles, so self-driving cars are not explicitly prohibited in the state
Here's the link. - https://www.lifewire.com/are-self-driving-cars-legal-4587765
