No info from CHP if the Tesla was on "Autopilot" at the time.
As the driver was killed, I'd surmise a lot of 'professional guessing' will be
required to determine if someone was in the driver's seat.
Just me, but perhaps there should be a driver's seat switch installed that
would help prevent owner stupidity?

[www.reuters.com]

Quote
Reuters -
The National Highway Traffic Safety Agency (NHTSA) said on Wednesday it
is opening a safety probe into a fatal May 5 Tesla crash in California amid
growing concerns about the automaker's driver assistance systems.
A Tesla crashed into an overturned truck on a highway near Fontana,
California, killing the Tesla's driver and injuring the truck driver and a
motorist who had stopped to help him, the California Highway Patrol said. ...
NHTSA said it previously had opened 28 special investigations into Tesla
crashes, with 24 pending.

---

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there is a switch.

If someone isn't sitting in the driver's seat it turns off.

When autopilot is on, you need to be aware by giving the steering wheel a jiggle or change the volume of the radio using the steering wheel every few minutes. If you don't, an alarm goes off and the car will actually stop itself.

Accidents happen, it's not necessarily technology's fault.

---

Quote
jardster
there is a switch.

If someone isn't sitting in the driver's seat it turns off.

When autopilot is on, you need to be aware by giving the steering wheel a jiggle or change the volume of the radio using the steering wheel every few minutes. If you don't, an alarm goes off and the car will actually stop itself.

Accidents happen, it's not necessarily technology's fault.

True, but it feels like 95%+ of "Autopilot" accidents would have been avoided had the human at the wheel been paying attention, or simply just driving a "regular" car without Autopilot. I.e. humans tend to identify large stationary obstacles on freeways ahead of time and safely navigate around them. Autopilot isn't expecting a large stationary object on the freeway and relies on the human to intervene, otherwise it just runs into said object.

There are countless videos of people bypassing the Autopilot "safety" measures and letting the car drive itself with no one in the driver's seat.

So, the technology may not be directly at fault, but it certainly enables people to make stupid decisions.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/2021 11:28AM by Gareth.

Quote
Gareth
accidents would have been avoided had the human at the wheel been paying attention

Largely true in cars without autopilot as well.

Quote
mattkime

Quote
Gareth
accidents would have been avoided had the human at the wheel been paying attention

Largely true in cars without autopilot as well.

Ssshhh! We're ignoring the 237 other cars that slammed into stationary objects with drivers at the wheel last week... we're trying to condemn Tesla here! [/s]

---

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----
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Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
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--
Eureka, CA

Like Apple, Tesla always gets the focus because it gets clicks. Unlike Apple. Tesla allows their CEO to make claims that are just plan not true. It's not an 'Autopilot". It's a Driver assist. They have to stop marketing it that way.

Personal Aside: My son's Ford has 'lane keeping' technology. I hate it. Anything that allows me to lose focus is bad. If I'm too tired to drive I pull over and take a nap.

Quote
cbelt3
Unlike Apple. Tesla allows their CEO to make claims that are just plan not true. It's not an 'Autopilot".

Wrong cbelt, if you believe that you need to talk to aircraft and boat manufacturers and have them correct their usage as well.

What's more, these crashes are not due to what Tesla calls their system....it's due to knowingly and stupidly operating your vehicle. If an aircraft or boat runs into something because they're on autopilot, we don't tend to blame the system, we blame the operator.

Quote
Carnos Jax

Quote
cbelt3
Unlike Apple. Tesla allows their CEO to make claims that are just plan not true. It's not an 'Autopilot".

Wrong cbelt, if you believe that you need to talk to aircraft and boat manufacturers and have them correct their usage as well.

What's more, these crashes are not due to what Tesla calls their system....it's due to knowingly and stupidly operating your vehicle. If an aircraft or boat runs into something because they're on autopilot, we don't tend to blame the system, we blame the operator.

Yep. My boat will happily plow into shore, a dock, or another boat when autopilot is engaged.

it's that time of the month for the Tesla thread already? I wasn't ready, sorry...

Quote
Carnos Jax

Quote
cbelt3
Unlike Apple. Tesla allows their CEO to make claims that are just plan not true. It's not an 'Autopilot".

Wrong cbelt, if you believe that you need to talk to aircraft and boat manufacturers and have them correct their usage as well.

What's more, these crashes are not due to what Tesla calls their system....it's due to knowingly and stupidly operating your vehicle. If an aircraft or boat runs into something because they're on autopilot, we don't tend to blame the system, we blame the operator.

An airline pilot isn't going to Jethro the plane into a mountain. Plenty of Jethros buy Teslas.

Yes, yes he is. You have no idea how many aviation accidents occur because people ‘jethro’ things

these people have no clue

Quote
space-time
these people have no clue

I just asked for 7-8 oz of sliced meat at the deli... he weighed out .7lbs and told me that was 7 oz...

maybe he was in immigrant from a metric country

Quote

What's more, these crashes are not due to what Tesla calls their system....it's due to knowingly and stupidly operating your vehicle.

I'm not well qualified to judge auto-pilot systems, but there is a reason that product liability lawsuits exist (not all entirely bad), so I'm going to take your comment with a grain of salt at this point.

---

“Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself its own solution. It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it."

So, the technology may not be directly at fault, but it certainly enables people to make stupid decisions.


The technology is not at all at fault, directly or indirectly.

The human in the car is making bad decisions, either through ignorance, stupidity, or just deliberately, or d) all of the above.



there is a switch.

If someone isn't sitting in the driver's seat it turns off.


If someone is say, in the back seat and the car is driving on auto-plot, then it would seem basic safe guards have somehow been subverted.

[www.nbcnewyork.com]

"I don't think you can go to jail, man,” he said. “It's not really that serious, because I'm not breaking any laws. I'm not dangerously operating the car."

I'm guessing he hasn't been to court on his charge of reckless driving.

I hope he's charged and the judge he draws has seen this and disproves his misunderstanding of the law.

30 days, served, for the first offense might do it.

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