I'm driving down a busy street in a city I've never before visited, and I feel like I'm hugging too close to the yellow line. I lean to look out the window and see that I'm still fully in the lane.

It's just not how I'd be driving if I were in control.

My hands are resting in my lap. I know I could grab the wheel and move the car over. First, I say it aloud, and in a couple of seconds, the vehicle is closer to the middle.

"I think it heard me, and now it's going to the right," I said.

The "it" in this scenario is Uber's self-driving car. They don't currently boast voice recognition -- yet -- so the most likely scenario was that its mapping system adjusted. I'm joined by my videographer and two Uber employees, known as a vehicle operator and a safety driver. They only have control over an emergency brake.

Another moment when I'm in the driver's seat we're at a stop sign. It's my turn to go, but the car hasn't moved. The car behind me honks, and I'm again motivated to take control. I wait two more seconds, and finally, we go.

Later, when I'm in the backseat and Uber's vehicle operators take the front, I watch one grab the wheel when we make a tight right turn and a pedestrian is crossing the street. The vehicle's sensor, visible to me as a heat map on a screen in the backseat and to the other operator on the passenger side on his laptop, took account of the person.



