2 ms·

Except that's not the autopilot almost causing anything, it's the autopilot disengaging that almost causes a collision. The autopilot is disengaging because thi

Except that's not the autopilot almost causing anything, it's the autopilot disengaging that almost causes a collision. The autopilot is disengaging because this is, in fact, not a completely autonomous vehicle, and the autopilot feature is mean to be used on a highway, which that road is not, and similarly to cruise control with the human remaining alert and ready to take over, which the guy recording obviously was not. So, good evidence that we can't go halfway with these things, and need to take humans out of the equation.

Too 11y ago
This is why all other car brands with this feature automatically disengages a few seconds after you let go of the steering wheel. And no - this does not make the whole feature useless, it's both a great convenience and works as an extra safety net to keep you on the center of the road if you put your focus on adjusting the aircon temperature for a second. The disengage in the video also comes very suddenly, the steering wheel starts steering very quickly to the left before there is even any warning sound. Tesla should recall this feature as is, first of all calling it "auto pilot" invites people to trust it too much, plus not enforcing the by law required hand on the wheel is just asking for abuse. People are stupid and the scenario on the video could have killed both the negligent driver of the tesla and the innocent driver in the other vehicle.
- bryondowd 11y ago
  You make good points. Although, disengaging when you release the wheel sounds like it could do as much harm as good. If anything, I'd rather it discourage this behavior using a nag alarm, possibly followed by automatically slowing/stopping the vehicle somewhat safely. As you say, people are stupid, and I can see some idiot trying to grab a beer out of a cooler in the back seat within the grace period (or deal with a dropped cell phone, pebble in a shoe, spider on the window, etc) and ending up careening off the road or into oncoming traffic. I agree that this feature isn't useless. I'd love to have it, myself. As you say, it does need work to idiot-proof it, and possibly a re-branding. But still, I would much much rather see full autonomy, as soon as possible. Wouldn't want to see us stay bogged down in the halfway stage. And I'm a little concerned that the first fatal accident caused by inappropriate use of driver assistance systems like this will unrightfully poison minds against fully autonomous systems, and take us a huge step back.

Too 11y ago

This is why all other car brands with this feature automatically disengages a few seconds after you let go of the steering wheel. And no - this does not make the whole feature useless, it's both a great convenience and works as an extra safety net to keep you on the center of the road if you put your focus on adjusting the aircon temperature for a second. The disengage in the video also comes very suddenly, the steering wheel starts steering very quickly to the left before there is even any warning sound. Tesla should recall this feature as is, first of all calling it "auto pilot" invites people to trust it too much, plus not enforcing the by law required hand on the wheel is just asking for abuse. People are stupid and the scenario on the video could have killed both the negligent driver of the tesla and the innocent driver in the other vehicle.

bryondowd 11y ago
You make good points. Although, disengaging when you release the wheel sounds like it could do as much harm as good. If anything, I'd rather it discourage this behavior using a nag alarm, possibly followed by automatically slowing/stopping the vehicle somewhat safely. As you say, people are stupid, and I can see some idiot trying to grab a beer out of a cooler in the back seat within the grace period (or deal with a dropped cell phone, pebble in a shoe, spider on the window, etc) and ending up careening off the road or into oncoming traffic. I agree that this feature isn't useless. I'd love to have it, myself. As you say, it does need work to idiot-proof it, and possibly a re-branding. But still, I would much much rather see full autonomy, as soon as possible. Wouldn't want to see us stay bogged down in the halfway stage. And I'm a little concerned that the first fatal accident caused by inappropriate use of driver assistance systems like this will unrightfully poison minds against fully autonomous systems, and take us a huge step back.