The researcher told a reporter for Automotive News he was driving the 2014 Chrysler 300 "hands-free" from Auburn Hills to Traverse City when he took over the wheel during the heavy thunderstorms.
An automotive researcher told Automotive News magazine he was forced to take the controls of an autonomously controlled Chrysler 300 last weekend when he encountered severe thunderstorms along I-75 near West Branch. DETROIT, MI - The Automotive News reports a researcher testing an "autonomous car" in Northern Michigan last weekend was forced to take over the wheel during a thunderstorm along I-75 near West Branch.
Ibro Muharemovic, head of advanced engineering for supplier Continental AG in North America, told the magazine he was driving the 2014 Chrysler 300 "hands-free" from Auburn Hills to Traverse City when he took control of the wheel during the heavy thunderstorms.
"There was one stretch where it was raining heavily and a truck was covering me with mist, so I figured I had better drive," said Muharemovic, who makes regular trips up I-75 to Continental's winter testing facilities in Brimley, Mich. He said he had never seen visibility so poor, even in the dead of winter. Traffic slowed to 25 mph. "I've never driven that slow on I-75."It was one of those new situations I haven't encountered," he said, but such extreme situations will help engineers prepare for when "this car is in production in a couple of years."
Jim Harger covers business for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at jharger@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook or Google+.