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This was entirely defensive and self-serving on behalf of Tesla. It's a general PR release, companies do these all the time. What made this so special?
by dvcc 10y ago
This was entirely defensive and self-serving on behalf of Tesla. It's a general PR release, companies do these all the time. What made this so special?
- fixermark 10y agothe fact that they could. Imagine how many press releases there'd be per day if another auto company felt compelled to do one for each accident their cars were involved in.
- mhurron 10y agoYou would see a similar release from any company where a technology they have been pushing could be front and center as the cause. This isn't just another horrible car accident on US roads, the car was in charge this time and a technology they've been heralding for it's safety is going to be blamed. That's why there is a federal investigation into it. That's why there is a press release to protect the stock price.
- coralreef 10y agoThis release only happened because Tesla knew it would make headlines, and wanted to get out in front before a sensationalized story gets out first. Other auto accidents are non-interesting to the public, but this one involved automated driving.
- dragontamer 10y agoEhhh? The Tesla suspension issue with non-disclosure agreements also made front pages, just a week or two ago. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/11/tesla-revises-nondisclosure-clause-as-musk-accuses-customers-of-fraud-on-suspension-claims.html http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/11/tesla-revises-nondisclosure-c... Tesla's blog is their primary marketing / damage control arm. Anything they publish there becomes instant news.
- vkou 10y agoWhat's sensationalized about 'Tesla's autopilot that encourages inattentive driving misses a big white trailer crossing the freeway'? This is as bad as it sounds.
- mandevil 10y agoWell yes. Total domestic US car production was two orders of magnitude greater than Tesla's was last year. Ford produced 40% more cars in 1911 than Tesla did last year. Just due to scale, no other company could manage this level of response. On the other hand, Tesla doesn't do this for every accident. They are treating this one special because Autopilot very carefully, and in a fully controlled manner, drove the car directly into a semi-trailer, which is more than a little embarrassing for the company. And terminal for the driver.
- fixermark 10y agoI haven't seen anything suggesting this was "very carefully, and in a fully controlled manner..." Did you get additional news on the accident from another source?