As a Tesla owner I personally find it abundantly clear the system is extremely limited. First, it reminds you every time you turn it on. Second, it reminds you during the drive based on perceived torque on the wheel. But more to the point, the guidance display helps you understand its limits of its perception just driving it day-to-day.
AutoPilot changes how you drive, but does not change the fact that you are indeed the driver. I observe other drivers every day who are distracted with other tasks, impaired, or just driving aggressively, and many thousands die on the road each year because of this.
I fully expect that AutoPilot software driving in a mode where there is not supposed to be a responsible driver with hands on the wheel and looking out the window would actually operate significantly different than the current system. I would not be surprised if false-negative threshold behavior is configured higher in the current software based on operational requirements.
This driver was effectively asleep at the wheel. I’m very glad they were unharmed. Because the current software is expressly designed to require an attentive driver, it’s hard to say even that the software failed.
Teslas on AutoPilot drive safely, nonaggresively, and highly predictably. They are by no means a fully self-driving system freeing the driver the tune out. There are a hundred ways you can crash a Tesla on AutoPilot in a hot minute if you want to. This is clearly apparent upon operating a Tesla AP for the first time, even if you never open the user manual.
Humans don’t alway make smart choices however, whether their car has assistive technology or not. The data does show the average Tesla driver with AP is about 10x less likely to have an accident, and less likely to die or be injured in an accident if they do have one, than the average overall driver. So if a driver is going to make a terrible choice to be distracted or inattentive while driving, I’d rather they did it in a Tesla with AP enabled.
> The data does show the average Tesla driver with AP is about 10x less likely to have an accident, and less likely to die or be injured in an accident if they do have one, than the average overall driver. So if a driver is going to make a terrible choice to be distracted or inattentive while driving, I’d rather they did it in a Tesla with AP enabled
Do you have a source for those statistics? The last time I saw Autopilot safety statistics, they were all very misleading - e.g. comparing "autopilot on" miles [mostly highway] to all miles drive in the US, or comparing pre-autopilot Teslas to post-autopilot Teslas (the pre-Autopilot Teslas didn't even have basic AEB, which is now standard on even entry-level cars), stuff like that
AutoPilot changes how you drive, but does not change the fact that you are indeed the driver. I observe other drivers every day who are distracted with other tasks, impaired, or just driving aggressively, and many thousands die on the road each year because of this.
I fully expect that AutoPilot software driving in a mode where there is not supposed to be a responsible driver with hands on the wheel and looking out the window would actually operate significantly different than the current system. I would not be surprised if false-negative threshold behavior is configured higher in the current software based on operational requirements.
This driver was effectively asleep at the wheel. I’m very glad they were unharmed. Because the current software is expressly designed to require an attentive driver, it’s hard to say even that the software failed.
Teslas on AutoPilot drive safely, nonaggresively, and highly predictably. They are by no means a fully self-driving system freeing the driver the tune out. There are a hundred ways you can crash a Tesla on AutoPilot in a hot minute if you want to. This is clearly apparent upon operating a Tesla AP for the first time, even if you never open the user manual.
Humans don’t alway make smart choices however, whether their car has assistive technology or not. The data does show the average Tesla driver with AP is about 10x less likely to have an accident, and less likely to die or be injured in an accident if they do have one, than the average overall driver. So if a driver is going to make a terrible choice to be distracted or inattentive while driving, I’d rather they did it in a Tesla with AP enabled.