Ford's new Trailer Hitch Assist feature has been programmed using AI machine learning to allow a pickup to drive in reverse and line up its hitch with a trailer. Towing trailers is one of the main reasons people buy pickups, but it can also be one of the most challenging things to do with them. Driving a truck in reverse with a trailer attached is a skill that requires a lot of practice, and just getting a hitch lined up to connect in the first place is tricky. The latter is especially true when you're by yourself, even with the rearview cameras that come standard on vehicles today. Now, Ford has technology that lets its trucks do it for you, but it takes some training.

Waymo has been very protective of its testing process in past, but recently it started opening up – likely as a bid to help get the public more comfortable with self-driving vehicle technology as it moves towards broad deployment of its autonomous cars. As part of that, the former Google self-driving car project asked a group of journalists to pay a visit to its Castle testing facility in Northern California. The Castle isn't just a very cool name for a proving ground, it's the actual name of the former air force base (used during the 1940s for training bombers for WWII) that Google took over back in 2013 to house some of its'X' projects, including Project Loon and what would eventually become Waymo in 2016. At Castle, we got a rare look at one aspect of Waymo's testing process for its autonomous cars, complete with a briefing on the company's approach from CEO John Krafcik, VP of Engineering Dimitry Dolgov, UX and Early Rider Program Product Manager Juliet Rothenberg and Head of UX Design Ryan Powell. Krafcik opened by giving a rundown of the various terms that have been applied to self-driving technology, ranging from "driver assistance" to "semi-driverless cars," noting that there's been "a lot of confusion about what the terminology means."

On Wednesday, Tesla said one of its customers in Beijing was caught unprepared last week when his car, which had autopilot enabled, sideswiped another vehicle that was partially parked off the side of the road. The accident caused some damage, according to Tesla, but nobody was hurt. Tesla's analysis of the vehicle data logs showed that the driver didn't have his hands on the wheel. The driver doesn't appear to dispute that account, accusing Tesla salespeople of misleading him into thinking that the car had fully self-driving capabilities. Here's how Tesla described the crash in a statement to The Washington Post: The customer's dash cam video shows that the Tesla was being driven on a highway in China where a vehicle was parked on the left shoulder straddling the left lane. The Tesla was following closely behind the car in front of it when the lead car moved to the right to avoid hitting the parked car.

Just a few days ago, the first fatality in a Tesla Model S using the autopilot function was reported. Now another severe Tesla crash has occurred while the vehicle was allegedly on autopilot. This time the crash involved a Model X, and luckily everyone involved survived. Just a few days ago, the first fatality in a Tesla Model S using the autopilot function was brought to our attention. Now another severe Tesla crash has occurred while the vehicle was allegedly on autopilot.