The only sign of fallibility I saw yesterday in Ford’s experimental self-driving car came halfway through a drive near the company’s headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., when the robocar briefly braked for no clear reason, then apparently thought better of it.
A tiny irregularity, and grist for the engineers’ mill along with other little lapses, logged at this media event. One reporter said his car had been a bit “spooked” by a hedge. But at least in my drive the car did everything from start to finish, setting out with a programmed destination but deciding on each turn, lane-change, stop, and start.
