Do people really stare at the license plate in front of them anyways, though? It was made quite clear during driver training courses many years ago not to do th

Do people really stare at the license plate in front of them anyways, though? It was made quite clear during driver training courses many years ago not to do this and that your glance pattern should always start and return to near the horizon (whether that be hundreds of yards in a city, or miles away on a highway). I've always had the opposite problem, if I'm not maintaining situational awareness to the horizon, I'll inevitably fall asleep after an hour or two out of sheer boredom. I prefer to drive long distances in manual-transmission vehicles (there's more to do!), and commercial vehicles with loads requiring careful management of engine RPM are even better. Those I can drive for 10-12 hours in a day without issue. I never saw myself as anything other than an ordinary driver. In my case, a Tesla autopilot is the worst possible compromise. It removes enough attention requirements that it feels much harder to stay attentive, but without automating the process completely. Other people I've talked to that operate large pieces of mechanical equipment have often said similar things about automation that it's best to either be a) fully manual or b) fully automated for some duration of time.