Automated cars, whether self-driving or assisting a driver, are supposed to make the roads safer by removing the possibility of human error. However, one New York Times writer said after testing out a Mercedes-Benz S550 equipped with some of the same driver assistance features as other high-end cars from Cadillac and Tesla, it may not work that way.
The semiautonomous features that allowed the writer to check his phone and adjust the stereo while driving down the highway could also make drivers themselves take more risks, he said. The “offset hypothesis” postulates that any safety feature will be offset by people acting more recklessly because they feel comfortable using it.
Tipping Point in Transit
One sunny morning a few weeks ago, I slipped into the inviting cockpit of a Mercedes-Benz S550 sedan, a ride equipped with massaging front seats, reclining back seats, a heads-up display worthy of a fighter jet and more speakers than a political convention. At $136,000, this was a car fit for a rap star or a European Union functionary, of which I am neither (yet) …
