Feds spend $60 million for AV tests on public roads

"The Department is awarding $60 million in grant funding to test the safe integration of automated vehicles into America's transportation system while ensuring that legitimate concerns about safety, security, and privacy are addressed."

The funding program attracted more than 70 applicants, including cities, states and local transit authorities, universities and research centers.

Of note:

• 3 projects, in Texas, Iowa and Ohio, will focus on rural applications of automated driving.
• Virginia Tech received two grants, totaling $15 million.

Read the list of recipients here.

Details: The CX-9 Signature, which is their $45,365 top-of-the-line model, feels like a luxury car, with heated and cooled Nappa leather upholstery, rosewood trim and LED accent lighting.

• It features a 250-hp, 2.5-liter four-cylinder turbo engine paired with a 6-speed automatic transmission that gets 23 mpg in combined city/highway driving.
• As with other Mazdas, the CX-9's ride and handling set it apart from the competition, hugging the road on tight curves instead of that tippy feeling you get in most 3-row SUVs.
• The CX-9 has a superb head-up display and offers a full suite of active safety features, including blind-spot monitoring and lane-keeping assist as well as adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability in traffic.

The downside: If you've got a big family, the CX-9 isn't as roomy as other 3-row crossovers like the Honda Pilot, Volkswagen Atlas or Kia Telluride.

• And while Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are now standard, you still have to use Mazda's center console knob to control the screen while driving. It's a safety decision, I know — touchscreens are incredibly distracting while driving — but it's still annoying.

The bottom line: The Mazda CX-9, starting at $32,280, is a family car you'll enjoy driving.

Background: The Smart Summon feature is part of a software update Tesla released last week for its vehicles.

• Using their phones, drivers can call their car from a nearby parking space to pick them up.
• CEO Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla owners used the Smart Summon feature 550,000 times in the first few days.
• Some of them posted videos on social media showing near-accidents, with one car hitting a garage and others blocking traffic in crowded parking lots.

What they're saying: In response to media inquiries, NHTSA said it “is aware of reports related to Tesla’s Summon feature. We are in ongoing contact with the company and we continue to gather information. Safety is NHTSA’s top priority and the agency will not hesitate to act if it finds evidence of a safety-related defect.”

My thought bubble: Without any clear regulations on automated vehicles, the NHTSA needs to crack down on beta-testing such features on the public.

By the numbers: AAA tested four 2019 mid-sized sedans equipped with pedestrian detection systems (Chevy Malibu, Honda Accord, Tesla Model 3 and Toyota Camry) with adult- and child-size dummies and found...

• In daylight testing, the cars traveling 20 mph struck adults crossing the road 60% of the time.
• At night, none of the systems detected or reacted to the adult pedestrian, an alarming result considering 75% of pedestrian fatalities occur after dark.
• When turning right and into a crosswalk, the cars hit the adult pedestrian every time.
• When encountering a child darting from between two cars, the test vehicle traveling at 20 mph hit the child 89% of the time.
• At over 30 mph, the systems failed every test.

The bottom line: Like most assisted-driving technologies, pedestrian detection systems have not been perfected and drivers need to pay attention.