Given the complex nature of traffic, every millisecond counts. If driver awareness is linked to whether one's eyes are on or off the road, and response time is linked to whether one's hands are on the wheel, a conceptual safety matrix looks like this:

As long as Tesla Autopilot and Cadillac SuperCruise require the "driver" to take over anytime while allowing them to remove their eyes from the road and/or take their hands off the steering wheel, an element of danger will remain. Automated braking and steering may improve, but the half-life of danger will always depend on how aggressively the systems compel driver awareness and reduce human response time to takeover warnings.

Why is eyes on/hands off safer than eyes off/hands on? Because you can't steer around what you can't see, but you can brake for what you do.

What happens when you put the two best series automated driving systems on the chart? Prepare for fireworks:

The shorter the eyes off interval the better, and this can only be reduced via a camera-based driver monitoring system. The shorter the hands off interval the better, and this can only be accomplished by a steering wheel sensor.

Why does SuperCruise land where it does? It's got an infrared camera pointed at the driver's face. You can look away, turn your head or lean over, but the system warnings will light up within seconds. Take too long and SuperCruise will shut off. It's very hard to cheat, and I tried. Also, it has a big visual state of engagement light perfectly placed on top of the steering wheel. Is SuperCruise on or off? There's never any doubt. Why isn't SuperCruise further to the right? Audible warnings aren't as good as visual, and because of its liberal hands off policy; you're going to need that extra second to get your hands back on the wheel.

What about Tesla Autopilot? It's complicated. To their credit, Tesla has consistently improved Autopilot's safety since its release in October of 2015. From the 1st gen Autopilot 7 & 8 though the current 2nd generation, hands off intervals have gotten shorter and visual warnings have gotten clearer. Unfortunately, audible warnings remain only adequate and Tesla still doesn't offer an active driver monitoring system. Unless the tiny camera above the Model 3's rear-view mirror wakes up and turns out to have been designed for this purpose, Tesla's current safety hardware is behind Cadillac's. How about those S/X models? No camera. Tough luck.

Furthermore, Tesla's hands off intervals are measured by a steering wheel torque sensor rather than capacitive touch. It's not that hard to cheat a torque sensor with one or more water bottles. It's very hard to cheat a capacitive sensor, and any car with heated steering is a few dollars away from enabling capacitive touch functionality. There's only one reason not to offer capacitive touch, and that's cost.

What is the point of series automation if the convenience of eyes off/hands off must be designed out in order to reduce the half-life of danger? None. At current levels of technology, companies are selling convenience at the expense of safety. I love both Autopilot and SuperCruise, but I don't reduce my vigilance when using them. I increase it. Not because they force me to, but because I know that if I don't, I could be the next Josh Brown or Walter Huang.

What is the solution to the limitations inherent to Autopilot and SuperCruise?

Series Vs. Parallel Automation

The alternative to series automation is a "parallel" or what Toyota Research Institute (TRI) call a "Guardian" system. Parallel systems have barely entered the thinking of an automotive sector trapped within the prison of the SAE automation level definitions. Parallel systems are the opposite of series; they restore the relationship of the driver to driving by forcing hand/eye engagement and limiting the user's ability to make mistakes. If current series systems are like Wall-E chairs that work some of the time, future parallel systems put us all in Iron Man suits.

#WouldYouLikeToKnowMore? Here you go.

What is the perfect car of the future, after all? The perfect car of the future is self-driving when we allow it, and—if and when we choose to take the wheel—won’t let us harm anyone else. That perfect car requires two things we don't yet have on the ground: universal autonomy/self-driving, and parallel automation. Broadly, it would include an Airbus-type system: series automation (autopilot) and parallel automation (flight envelope protections). An Airbus won't let you exceed the limits of the airframe. Why should a car let you steer into a wall?

What about autonomy? Safety requires clarity. If a car requires a human operator or external control anywhere, it's not autonomous, it's automated. Until that arrives, let's call things what they are, and focus on problems we can solve.

How can we seriously attack the half-life of danger until parallel systems and universal autonomy/self-driving arrive? I see at least three options at this time, although there may be others:

Ban all active lane keeping, and therefore Autopilot, SuperCruise and any other emergent systems. No one will like this except regulators and Luddites. Mandate geofencing of all series automation to low density, separated highways a la SuperCruise. Tesla could easily do this via wireless update, but who is to say where to place those geofences? Even the excellent SuperCruise works some places it shouldn't. Mandate Driver Monitoring Systems, to include both camera and capacitive touch, therefore banning Autopilot until hardware improvements arrive. Tesla and their investors and owners will hate this. Cadillac? I'm not sure they've sold enough SuperCruise equipped cars to care.

Or we can do nothing and suffer through the same clickbait and hand-wringing over and over until the next crash. And the next one. I'd rather not.

Alex Roy is the founder of the Human Driving Association, Editor at The Drive, Host of The Autonocast, co-host of /DRIVE on NBC Sports and author of The Driver, and has set numerous endurance driving records, including the infamous Cannonball Run record. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.