California robocar disengagement reports reveal tidbits about Tesla, AutoX, Apple, others
Every year, companies testing self-driving cars in California are required to report to the state DMV details on all the cars they have tested, how many miles they drove, and how many times the safety drivers had to disengage the system and take over. When this requirement was created, it was hoped that we would learn how reliable the vehicles were becoming based on how often they needed interventions. As might be expected, though, each team has come up with its own definition for what counts as a reportable disengagement, and so it has become almost meaningless to look at those numbers.