Driving can be stressful, sure.
Getting behind the wheel of a self-driving car can be even more stressful for some people though. In a video clip that recently posted on YouTube (it has since been made private), an elderly woman yelps for dear life as she sits in the driver’s seat of a Tesla (TSLA) car while the company’s autopilot feature works its magic.
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“It’s scary!” She screams, arms raised. “Oh, there’s cars coming!”
“Owwoahhhhaaa” she exclaims, terrified, clutching clenched hands.
“Agh! Agh! Oooh! Where’s it going? God damn, Bill!” She blurts, petrified, over the giggles of her passenger (Bill, presumably).
Tesla’s autopilot feature is semi-autonomous, meaning it can automatically steer and change lanes on highways, but still sometimes requires a human to take control (especially in environments like city streets). Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk told Coins2Day at the end of last year that full autonomy—truly driverless cars—are approximately two years away.
When Coins2Day’s own Katie Fehrenbacher tested Tesla’s autopilot feature on its Model S car in the fall, she kept comparatively calm, though she conceded to being unsettled. “It’s a little bit scary, I must admit.” She said, narrating the experience while zipping (nay, being zipped?) Down a freeway near Palo Alto, Calif.
Whether drivers are ready for it or not, every major automaker appears to be racing toward an autonomous future. Ford (F), Toyota (TM), and General Motors (GM) have all announced driverless car programs, while Tesla (TSLA), Google (GOOG) and reportedly Apple (AAPL) are at work on vehicles of their own.
“This is so scary,” the grandmother cries, resigning herself to a fate she neither can avoid nor control.
Can you blame her, dear reader?
