General Motors Details Semi-Autonomous System In Goverment Letter

General Motors has detailed its upcoming semi-autonomous driving system dubbed ‘Super Cruise’ in a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The letter reveals that the system will allow a driver to take their hands off the steering wheel but if roads become too twisty or the driver appears inattentive, Super Cruise will issue a number of alerts.

If the driver fails to respond to these alerts, the vehicle will slow down to a stop and automatically put the hazard lights on. This is a similar procedure as Tesla’s updated Autopilot system recently adopted in the wake of a deadly crash in May.

According to Reuters, the Super Cruise system won’t always act this way unless it determines it to be the safest thing to do. In a letter from the NHTSA sent to GM, the government agency urged the automaker to “ensure that this fallback solution does not pose an unreasonable risk to safety” as GM itself says it may bring the vehicle to a stop “in or near the roadway”.

This fallback procedure will operate thanks to advanced facial recognition software which monitors the driver.

GM initially intended on launching the software in the Cadillac CT6 this year but has pushed back its launch until 2017.