system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How do driverless cars detect and deal with ice and snow, especially when it comes to braking?

As a seasoned winter driver, I often have to anticipate stopping distance and turn speed based on the road conditions ahead. You could be on a plowed patch of a main road, and then turn onto a snowy/icy side street.

How do driverless cars deal with these conditions? Do they also “see” or is it based on the tire traction?
gpt
I don't know how driverless cars do it, just want to add, that drivers also are not just seeing it. A modern car is also designed that way, so you can feel the street conditions, for example via the steering wheel. This is for example a problem when you design "steer by wire" technology, where the steering wheel is only conected by wire to the wheels and not by a hard connection through linkage. If you would not add some artificially produced effects on the steering wheel, so you can feel the condition, the driving experience would be worse.

So even cars with drivers with 'steer by wire' need to have some sensor system, to collect data to simulate the driving conditions you feel on the steering wheel.