🦉 Wise Tech or Wishful Thinking?

Self-Driving Promises, Adaptive Cruise Chaos, and Texas Taking the Wheel

February 11, 2025

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The Gist

ASOTU knows dealers aren’t just selling cars—they’re trusted advisors helping customers navigate the latest automotive tech (even when automakers overpromise). With self-driving hype heating up and new data on driver-assist systems, here’s what you need to know to stay ahead—and keep your customers informed.

  • Adaptive Cruise = A False Sense of Security? A study found that while most driver-assist tech reduces accidents, cruise control actually increases crash risk—because drivers tune out. Dealers can help customers understand what these systems actually do (and don’t do).

  • Tesla’s "Robotaxi" Rollout = More Confusion: Musk says self-driving ride-hailing launches in Texas this June, but it’s a geo-fenced, teleoperated service— not the full autonomy Tesla buyers expected.

  • Texas = Fewer Rules, Faster Rollout: Unlike California, Tesla can launch without much oversight. Expect more consumer questions.

🔑 Dealer Takeaway: Customers trust dealers for real answers about tech that automakers overpromise.

Sources:

The Assist Features That Actually Assist—And the One That Doesn't

Automakers love to pack cars with the latest tech, promising safer, stress-free driving. But a new study suggests that some of these features may be more hype than help.

Researchers analyzed 28 different vehicle functions, from blind-spot alerts to emergency braking. The verdict? Most advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS) either reduce crashes or have no measurable impact—except one.

  • Lane-keep assist? 19.1% reduction in crashes.

  • Driver monitoring? 14% reduction.

  • Standard cruise control? 12% increase in crashes.

  • Adaptive cruise control? Mixed results—anywhere from a 1.8% increase to an 8% increase in crash risk.

The problem? Drivers get comfy. The smoother the ride, the less engaged they are. And while emergency braking should be a safety net, not all adaptive cruise systems come with it. So when the car doesn’t stop, and the driver assumes it will… well, you see where this is going.

🚖 Tesla’s Robotaxi Dream—Or Just Another Game of Goalpost Shifting?

Elon Musk says Tesla’s self-driving ride-hailing service is launching this June in Austin, Texas. Excited? Maybe. Skeptical? Absolutely.

If you’ve been following Musk’s predictions on Full Self-Driving (FSD), you know the pattern: ambitious promise, missed deadline, rinse, repeat.

A quick recap of the greatest hits:

  • 2016: “All Teslas will be robotaxis by 2020.”

  • 2019: “Full self-driving will be here by 2020.”

  • 2021: “1 million robotaxis by year’s end.”

  • 2024: “Unsupervised FSD in Texas by June 2025.”

Seeing a trend? This time, however, Tesla is sort of delivering—just not the way customers expected. Instead of giving existing Tesla owners true FSD, the company is rolling out a geo-fenced, teleoperated ride-hailing service, not unlike Waymo.

Yes, the same Waymo Musk once dismissed as “limited and unscalable.” Now, Tesla is doing the same thing—just without all the safety and regulatory hurdles Waymo cleared first.

🚨 The Catch? Texas’ laws allow robotaxis to hit the streets with virtually no oversight. Unlike California, where companies like Waymo and Cruise had to log millions of test miles before carrying passengers, Tesla can hit “go” with just an insurance policy.

What This Means for Dealers

While automakers keep racing toward self-driving tech, human-driven cars are still the bread and butter of the industry. If Tesla’s limited FSD rollout gains traction, expect even more buzz (and confusion) among customers about what their vehicle can and can’t do.

And as for adaptive cruise control? Dealers might want to have that conversation with buyers—especially those who assume their car is smarter than it really is.

Because at the end of the day, no matter how advanced the tech gets, paying attention still beats pressing buttons.

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