GM to Introduce Hands-Free Driving in Cadillacs

[Texas Jim]

General Motors Co. (GM), the largest U.S. automaker, will introduce a Cadillac model in two years that can be driven on the highway without the driver holding the steering wheel or putting a foot on a pedal.

The 2017 Cadillac model will feature “Super Cruise” technology that takes control of steering, acceleration and braking at highway speeds of 70 miles per hour or in stop-and-go congested traffic, Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra said today in a speech at the Intelligent Transport System World Congress in Detroit. GM declined to release the name of the model that will carry the feature.

Barra also said GM in two years will become the first automaker to equip a model with so-called vehicle-to-vehicle technology that enables the car to communicate with other autos with similar abilities to warn of traffic hazards and improve road safety. GM will make the V2V feature standard on its 2017 Cadillac CTS sedan, debuting in the second half of 2016, she said. The Super Cruise feature will be on a different Cadillac model and goes beyond similar technology available on some Mercedes-Benz models that operates only at low speeds.

“With Super Cruise, when there’s a congestion alert on roads like California’s Santa Monica Freeway, you can let the car take over and drive hands free and feet free through the worst stop-and-go traffic around,” Barra said in the speech at Cobo Center in Detroit. “If the mood strikes you on the high-speed road from Barstow, California, to Las Vegas, you can take a break from the wheel and pedals and let the car do the work. Having it done for you -- that’s true luxury.”

Read more....

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-07/gm-to-introduce-hands-free-driving-in-cadillac-model.html

[Cadillac Jim]

It's more than luxury. If it works well, it will reduce or eliminate the frequent fender-benders and bumper-thumpers often seen in long sessions of stop-and-go traffic.

Of course, there will always be the Tazio Nuvolari wannabe in the old BMW or Honda erstatz-R rapidly weaving through tiny gaps in the traffic. Lately I've notice the occasional Prius doing that in rush hour traffic.

[99EldoETC]

Yep, last night this news received a big splash on drudge:

I'm wondering if this technology will be allowed to go forward in light of the potential it has in cutting into municipalities traffic ticket extortion scam?