WSJ:
Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk has no plans to disable the company’s Autopilot function in the wake of a May crash of a Model S electric car using the technology, and the auto maker instead plans to redouble efforts to educate customers on how the system works.
I think that’s the correct decision. From all that I’ve read, it’s not autopilot that’s the problem, it’s drivers not taking responsibility for their automobiles.
Drivers not taking responsibility is not only their problem, it is ours too. What about the rest of us who get hit by such drivers / cars? When something becomes extra-unsafe by design (drivers are bound to take it easy if all they are doing for extended periods is to just keep hands on the steering), I think the company and state laws also have some obligation to work to make it safer for us. When cellphones came in, some states banned drive and text and once in a while started issuing tickets on this. What is the equivalent here?
I’m not sure why Tesla can’t follow Honda’s lead from 10 years ago. When you turned on the similar feature on their car, you had to keep your hands in the wheel or it would turn off.
So, 1. I have no idea why people think this is some amazing Tesla invention, and 2. There is an easy solution to the problem (which I guess requires new hardware, but seriously, if Tesla were planning this feature, it should have already been included).
Poor effort, Tesla, you could easily make the roads safer for us all.
Tesla should also not allow the feature to kick in at all at high speed. Keep it to 40mph or below (for stop and go traffic). Far safer that way for the driver and the other driver’s around him/her. Maybe that’s why Volvo does it that way
<<o. ✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤:::::::!gq484p:….,….
Musk is a habitual over-promiser. Usually that’s fine. In the case of Autopilot, it is problematic. Yes, of course there will always be idiots who use the tool unsafely, but he exacerbates the problem by talking about it as though it’s just a hair away from complete self-driving. These features should be advertised as an extension of traditional cruise control. Calling it Autopilot and talking to the press about driving between San Francisco and Seattle without touching the controls is just irresponsible.
Older car companies have learned to be cautious with their customers’ lives. I understand that Tesla’s entire financial viability is being kept afloat by the optimism that Musk stokes, but when it comes to a feature like this he needs to project a more realistic view of what the car can do and what it can’t.
Once autopilot crashes start to happen almost nearly as frequently as non-autopilot crashes happen, I might actually have some concern about it.
but what if those sorts of accidents are les frequent than routine, non-autopilot carelessness? if autopilot is a net gain then im not sure why the big deal is.
exactly. if (when scaled) autopilot crashes are less frequent than manual crashes, then there is little to get excited about.
Exactly. I would prefer self-driving cars on the road (not necessarily Tesla’s autopilot) to the b.s. I see every day on the road going to and from work or events. If people aren’t going to pay attention or don’t care, then let the robots drive.
(I actually saw people trying to argue with police on their Facebook page here in Oklahoma that enforcing the law to put on your signal 300 feet before a lane change was going to cause them trouble because “what if I’m about to miss my exit? I don’t have time to signal.”
Drivers suck. And I don’t even know how much I suck — but I know everyone else does. I’d rather a robot drive me and everyone else.
Maybe it is a question of being NIMBY but there are 2 ways we can look at it: A) based on data but I am sorry there is not much data to go by, and B) common sense and in this case the common sense seems to be lacking. So it is a big deal.
Tesla’s autopilot mode, since it doesn’t actually look for things like stop lights and signs and all like Google’s and other self-driving, is likely safer at higher speeds and on generally straight or gentler turn highways.