More Kiwis taking 'hands off' approach with self

More Kiwis taking 'hands off' approach with self-driving technology

Matthew Theunissen gets behind the wheel of a driverless car

A growing number of New Zealand motorists aren't even touching the steering wheel, and their feet aren't on the brake or the accelerator pedal during their entire journey.

Yes, fully self-driving cars are legal in New Zealand, as long as they're supervised by a driver, who is still responsible for ensuring they obey the rules of the road.

The vehicles have been linked to fatal crashes overseas and have reportedly made some strange driving decisions here, but Tesla Model Y L owner Mike Jones believes the technology is extremely safe.

"I'm very, very confident that the car is able to handle itself safely," he said. "I've done enough k's, both in this and my previous Model Y Juniper.

"I've driven all the way to Huntly from Bucklands Beach non-stop and then back again, with a three-minute stop, and into my driveway and parked."

He said it performed as well, if not better than most human drivers. The driver was still responsible for ensuring the vehicle operated safely in accordance with New Zealand's road rules.

If the driver were to drift off, onboard cameras would trigger an alert telling them to remain attentive. Too many alerts and the driver's ability to use the technology was suspended.

Christchurch Tesla owner Jaggy Bhupal's experience has been overwhelmingly positive, but he said the car did get things wrong every now and then.

"On 'hurry' mode, what it tried to do was overtake a vehicle, which was a little bit slow," he said. "There was oncoming traffic, which was quite far away.

"I'm pretty sure it would have either braked and put us back in the lane, or overtaken it easily, because these cars are bloody fast as well, but I took [the controls] just to be on the safer side.

"The longest streak I had was 225km without doing a thing, so lane change, red lights, green lights, roundabouts..."

It even made way for an ambulance, but also had an incident at a giveway intersection.

"I think the car thought the other car was further away, but the other car was, you know, significantly closer," he said. "If I was it myself, I probably have not taken the chance... but I think it was a miscalculation.

"Every now and then, it does do some weird glitches here and there, but then again, it is work in progress and it is supervised for a reason."

Tesla owner Etienne Jordaan believes the technology actually cuts down on human error.

The Tesla self-drive demonstration.

"If you're behind the wheel, respect the technology and be attentive," he said.

The Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport told RNZ that New Zealand was open to innovation and emerging transport technologies, and the government was monitoring developments in autonomous vehicle technology internationally.

RNZ sent several questions to Tesla, but has yet to receive a response.