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The fundamental problem is that Tesla's Autopilot is defective. It has repeatedly steered people into highway barriers, and sometimes has no clue which lane it'

The fundamental problem is that Tesla's Autopilot is defective. It has repeatedly steered people into highway barriers, and sometimes has no clue which lane it's in or where it's going. See the opening of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMvdI8nSAJE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMvdI8nSAJE An Apple employee was killed by his Tesla, which always veered into a highway barrier after an OTA update (he was distracted one day and didn't prevent the crash, died as a result).[0] The video above also involves the results of an OTA update. There are more reports of dangerous Autopilot behavior than any other brand's cruise control that I'm aware of. The problem here isn't neglectful driving, it's that you may be driving in a straight line on a highway for half an hour, distracted and "lulled" by the monotony and predictability of the road, and in a split second your car veers off and tries to kill you because it no longer knows where the lane is. Now drivers need to not only pay attention to the road and over cars, but also be ready to react instantly with zero warning if the car does something unexpected and dangerous. [0]: https://www.kqed.org/news/11801138/apple-engineer-killed-in-tesla-crash-had-previously-complained-about-autopilot https://www.kqed.org/news/11801138/apple-engineer-killed-in-...

warning26 4y ago
What is the benefit of an auto-drive function if you have to pay constant attention to it? Essentially, autopilot's main value proposition is that you don't need to pay attention to it -- and that's what makes it so dangerous.
- vorpalhex 4y ago
  The wife got a new car - not a Tesla - that has several smart cruise control features. She actually ended up disabling some of them. She explained that they "made driving too easy" and it was too hard for her to keep her attention on the road while using them.
- Domenic_S 4y ago
  As a bay-area commuter, the value prop is not having to micromanage the accelerator/brake/steering wheel in stop-and-go traffic. I did the commute for years in "regular" cars, and I've done it for years with autopilot, and autopilot is without a question a much easier commute. There is a continuum between actively driving the car and falling asleep in the back seat, and AP puts you somewhere on the left side of the middle. It's generally great stuff. All the point-to-point full-self-driving BS is meh, I don't really care about it, but give me world-class TACC and lane keeping (original autopilot) and I'm a happy commuter.
  - warning26 4y ago
    > the value prop is not having to micromanage the accelerator/brake/steering wheel in stop-and-go traffic I largely agree with you here, having driven a car with adaptive cruise control in stop-and-go traffic and finding it to be a total game changer. That said, I'd argue there's a huge difference between having the car micromanage the accelerator+brake versus having it micromanage the accelerator+brake+steering. With the former, the driver must remain engaged with the driving task (even though the most tedious aspect is taken care of), but with the latter, no engagement whatsoever is required.
  - kaba0 4y ago
    But that is a decade old technology available in even low-end cars, and is not responsible for car crashes because it was never marketed as anything more. Tesla maliciously advertises as much much more than adaptive cruise control, lane assist, etc, which is disgusting on their part.

warning26 4y ago

What is the benefit of an auto-drive function if you have to pay constant attention to it? Essentially, autopilot's main value proposition is that you don't need to pay attention to it -- and that's what makes it so dangerous.

vorpalhex 4y ago
The wife got a new car - not a Tesla - that has several smart cruise control features. She actually ended up disabling some of them. She explained that they "made driving too easy" and it was too hard for her to keep her attention on the road while using them.
Domenic_S 4y ago
As a bay-area commuter, the value prop is not having to micromanage the accelerator/brake/steering wheel in stop-and-go traffic. I did the commute for years in "regular" cars, and I've done it for years with autopilot, and autopilot is without a question a much easier commute. There is a continuum between actively driving the car and falling asleep in the back seat, and AP puts you somewhere on the left side of the middle. It's generally great stuff. All the point-to-point full-self-driving BS is meh, I don't really care about it, but give me world-class TACC and lane keeping (original autopilot) and I'm a happy commuter.
- warning26 4y ago
  > the value prop is not having to micromanage the accelerator/brake/steering wheel in stop-and-go traffic I largely agree with you here, having driven a car with adaptive cruise control in stop-and-go traffic and finding it to be a total game changer. That said, I'd argue there's a huge difference between having the car micromanage the accelerator+brake versus having it micromanage the accelerator+brake+steering. With the former, the driver must remain engaged with the driving task (even though the most tedious aspect is taken care of), but with the latter, no engagement whatsoever is required.
- kaba0 4y ago
  But that is a decade old technology available in even low-end cars, and is not responsible for car crashes because it was never marketed as anything more. Tesla maliciously advertises as much much more than adaptive cruise control, lane assist, etc, which is disgusting on their part.