Members of the public are getting the chance to take a free ride in a self-driving car as part of an effort to clear up confusion about the technology.

Hundreds are signed up for the 6-minute journey that leads riders through a course set up inside a Detroit convention center.

Mary Van Der Maas (VAN'-der-MOZ') hopped into an autonomous Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan on Friday, and off she went.

Afterward, the 73-year-old retiree from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, said: "Once you experience it, it's marvelous."

The event is sponsored in part by Partners for Automated Vehicle Education, a coalition of industry, nonprofit and academic institutions whose goal is to inform and educate the public and policymakers about automated vehicles.

It runs through Sunday at Cobo Center downtown.

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