Treating Self-Driving Cars Like Student Drivers

Eschewing glamor, Drive.ai's self-driving vehicles use bright coloring, insignia, and LED messages to facilitate better interactions with humans on the road.

1 minute read

August 21, 2018, 8:00 AM PDT

By Philip Rojc @PhilipRojc


Student Driver

Pacific Southwest Region USFWS / Flickr

Like student drivers operating vehicles advertising that fact, autonomous cars are still learning the fine art of urban navigation. The company Drive.ai recognizes that in its design choices for a ride-hailing pilot currently ongoing in Frisco, Texas. 

"The vehicles, modified Nissan NV200s, are certainly the loudest, brightest, and unabashedly dorkiest self-driving cars on the road today," writes Andrew J. Hawkins. Far from sleek, they're designed to alert other road users in no uncertain terms that they're sharing space with a self-driver.

LED screens on the vehicle's exterior provide information on the vehicle's status. Hawkins writes, "when the cars are on ride-hailing trips or on their way to a pickup, the screens will display messages that convey the vehicle's intent to pedestrians and other vehicles on the road. [...] It's intended to replace the gestures or verbal communication often used by human drivers to communicate their intentions." The hope is to "rebuild trust" in autonomous cars after recent incidents.

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