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Study Shows Drivers Stay Alert When Using Super Cruise

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A person driving with their hands off the wheel while Super Cruise is enabled
A car with Super Cruise enabled
Photo: Cadillac

Semi-autonomous driving technologies work to make it safer and less stressful to be behind the wheel. Despite this, critics worry that drivers will lose focus and drop their guard when using these technologies, leading to more collisions. A new Massachusetts Institute of Technology study found that these worries are baseless, at least as far as the Super Cruise hands-free driving assistance feature is concerned.


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What does the MIT study reveal?

The dashboard of the 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali showing the Super Cruise system
The GMC Sierra 1500 Denali will get Super Cruise for 2022
Photo: GMC

MIT recently published a paper called “Driver Behavior and the Use of Automation in Real-World Driving,” in which researchers describe how drivers interact with semi-autonomous tech and point out the common behaviors shown when using the systems.

The paper is based on a study MIT conducted, where 14 participants drove Cadillac CT6 models equipped with Super Cruise. Each participant drove for a month while onboard cameras monitored their behaviors as well as the traffic situations.

Researchers then reviewed the footage, specifically looking for moments when Super Cruise required drivers to take control of their vehicles again and when drivers manually retook control. The latter scenario occurred when participants wanted to do maneuvers that the tech couldn’t handle, like lane changes. Researchers noted that this scenario took place more often than expected, showing that drivers stayed alert while Super Cruise was engaged.

“In the back of my mind, I thought that drivers would probably put the automation on when the system was available and then disengage it when they got off the highway,” Pnina Gershon, the study’s lead author, told Automotive News in an interview. “That was my expectation. But it’s surprising there’s a high degree of collaboration between the driver and the system, even though it’s hands-free driving.”


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MIT researchers hope this study will help engineers make new vehicle tech that easily transitions between semi-autonomous control and human control. In the meantime, GM will expand the availability of Super Cruise to 22 models globally by 2023 and work to develop the more advanced Ultra Cruise system.