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A (Rather Slow) Ride in the First Self-Driving Chevy Bolt

November 29, 2017

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.

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