Mark Rober just set up one of the most interesting self-driving tests of 2025, and he did it by imitating Looney Tunes. The former NASA engineer and current YouTube mad scientist recreated the classic gag where Wile E. Coyote paints a tunnel onto a wall to fool the Road Runner.
Only this time, the test subject wasn’t a cartoon bird… it was a self-driving Tesla Model Y.
The result? A full-speed, 40 MPH impact straight into the wall. Watch the video and tell us what you think!
These things will make people more complacent and lazy, and will absolutely lead to worse drivers and more collisions
It can be a huge help, depending on the human factor.
If it’s a ‘oh, take your hands off, it’s fine, take your eyes away, it’s fine’, then I could see that the systems replace human weakness but add their own, failing to reach a good “best of both worlds”.
If it’s one of the systems that watches the driver’s eyes and nags if they take their eyes or hands off the task of driving while also encouraging good lane positioning and sufficient, yet perhaps uncomfortable braking in an emergency situation. Enough assistance to aid safety, still annoying enough to make people not rely solely upon them.
Challenge is that’s not a very appealing promise of value. “Our system improves safety by using all this ADAS, but is annoying enough to keep you engaged!”.
Just like government hand outs… Prohibiting accidents is communism, dyind on the grill of a SUV is a patriotic duty… /s