This is what can happen when cars park themselves

    

Footage of a car demonstration from the Dominican Republic was released recently, that shows what happens when humans put a little too much faith in automated systems. The driver in the video appears to be showing off the self-parking features of their Volvo XC60 to a journalist, when this happens.

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While some have been quick to call this a glitch, according to a Volvo spokesperson, this is not malfunction. By rapidly speeding up, the driver disabled the car's pedestrian avoidance features. In fact, it may not have had that ability to begin with. "It appears as if the car in this video is not equipped with pedestrian detection...This is sold as a separate package."

This is a perfect example how automated safety features can cause serious problems. When human beings are given any piece of safety equipment that takes their input out of the equation, they tend to let their guard down, and cause the same accidents the technology was designed to prevent. And as far as self-driving cars go, hopefully avoiding pedestrians won't be an expensive "separate package" when they're released to the public. Due to human nature, a half automated system is way more dangerous than either a fully automated, or a non-automated system.