Automakers are beginning to introduce more safety features that can temporarily take over for drivers, and gradually more and more vehicles will be able to drive themselves. However, there’s little clarity for drivers what each feature actually does, when, and under what circumstances. When it isn’t clear who’s responsible for the vehicle – the driver or the car itself – that’s described as “mode confusion.” The concept is well known to aviators, but to hardly anyone else. This week we talk with former Navy pilot and professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University, Missy Cummings, about the potential dangers to motorists if automakers fail to plan for mode confusion.

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