A test ride in the self-driving Chevrolet Bolt is like going back to driver’s ed. The car does indeed drive itself, but it slavishly obeys traffic rules that I forgot even existed.
General Motors Co. made the car available to media and analysts this week, giving outsiders a first-ever peek at its autonomous vehicles. Until now, only GM engineers and the staff at San Francisco-based Cruise Automation, the company’s software unit, have been inside one.
The Bolt is so cautious that it might bore even a conservative driver to tears. Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt made it very clear that the ultra-defensive posture of the Bolt AV is by design. Self-driving cars are about reducing crashes and fatalities, above all else.