As an automotive journalist who has had the opportunity to test autonomous driving systems such as Cadillac’s Super Cruise and Ford’s BlueCruise, I have mixed feelings about their effectiveness. While these systems work well on certain roads and can even automate lane changes, I still believe that human drivers won’t be fully replaced anytime soon due to limitations in the technology.

During my recent test of Super Cruise in a Cadillac Escalade V-Series, I found the system to work well for the most part. However, I was constantly on high alert in case the system needed me to take over at a moment’s notice. This made the experience more tiring than if I had done the driving myself.

Super Cruise only works on certain roads, mostly freeways, and even automates lane changes. However, I found that I was not yet used to trusting the system enough to let it take over completely. For example, when encountering a construction zone that threw off the truck’s maps of the road, I manually took over when I didn’t need to.

Super Cruise does monitor the driver to ensure their eyes are on the road and they are ready to take over if needed. However, I found its monitoring to be inconsistent at times.

Overall, while autonomous driving systems like Super Cruise and BlueCruise can be useful tools that make freeway driving easier, it’s important to remember that the driver is still in charge and must be ready to take over at any time. Autonomous driving will likely become a larger part of our driving experience going forward, but it’s unlikely that human drivers will be fully replaced anytime soon.