Two global automotive suppliers sent a pair of sedans?a Cadillac ATS and a Chrysler 300?equipped with self-driving technology on a roundabout journey of roughly 350 miles, a trip that included a tricky tunnel and a long steel bridge. The cars drove in fully autonomous mode for about 92 percent of the route, but what really set this demonstration apart was that it was a regulatory challenge as much as a technical one.
The two-car caravan started in Detroit, the Cadillac equipped with a Magna self-driving system and the Chrysler with one from Continental. The cars crossed into Canada via the Detroit?Windsor Tunnel, which runs under the Detroit River. From Windsor, Ontario, they headed east through the province, turning north toward Sarnia, on the Saint Clair River, where they crossed the Blue Water Bridge and returned to the United States at Port Huron, Michigan. The cars were clearly chosen with a keen eye on political optics: The Cadillac is built in Michigan and the Chrysler in Ontario, which is also Magna’s home province. Government officials and company executives involved with the demonstration believe it marks the first time an autonomous-vehicle test has ventured across an international border. It?s an important milestone, if only because it foretells an aspect of automated driving that most developers and regulators have barely began to consider. These issues might be more of more immediate concern for Magna and Continental in Europe, where both firms condu...