Re: Experience of autopilot
It really is unfortunate that the term "autopilot" has been allowed to enter the lexicon of motoring, however much or little control it is actually able to exert.
Comparisons with aviation are completely misleading, IMHO. Certainly in commercial aviation the aircraft will be equipped with "autopilot", and it will doubtless be enabled for some part of a flight. However, the same aircraft will be equipped with two fully qualified pilots, but the use of "autopilot" does not enable both of them to do their crosswords of choice (or whatever!) at the same time. One or other of them is always keeping watch on what the aircraft is doing while the autopilot is flying the aircraft.
Furthermore aircraft occupy distinct corridors based on track and height, those corridors being specifically designed to keep aircraft well apart and thus minimise (or hopefully eliminate!) any chance of a mid - air collision. Yes; there are lanes to follow but they do not have white lines within in which both human and auto pilots are required to remain. On top of that ground controllers do keep an eye on what air traffic is doing; for example any change of height does or may need clearance from ATC before putting it into effect. Other than when on the ground air travel is mercifully clear of fixed obstacles and other influences that might upset a pleasant journey.
As if those weren't sufficient differences in themselves, any event that requires the intervention of a human pilot should have a sufficient interval in both time and space between that intervention being required and something really nasty happening, but the same cannot be said of cars more or less bumper to bumper (fender to fender if you really must!) on congested roads.
In my view there is simply no sensible similarity between what happens in aviation and what happens in motoring; the differences between the two concepts of travel are so great that allowing them to share the word "autopilot" is profoundly, and dangerously wrong.
Somehow (and no; I don't know how either) the word "autopilot" has to be expunged from land - based travel.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
