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Elon Musk Says Tesla New Autopilot Features Would Have Prevented Recent Death (fortune.com)

Posted by msmash on from the could-have-would-have dept.

An anonymous reader writes:Tesla Motors Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Sunday the automaker was updating its semi-autonomous driving system Autopilot with new limits on hands-off driving and other improvements that likely would have prevented a fatality in May. Musk said the update, which will be available within a week or two through an "over-the-air" software update, would rely foremost on radar to give Tesla's electric luxury cars a better sense of what is around them and when to brake. New restrictions of Autopilot 8.0 are a nod to widespread concerns that the system lulled users into a false sense of security through its "hands-off" driving capability. The updated system now will temporarily prevent drivers from using the system if they do not respond to audible warnings to take back control of the car. Musk said it was "very likely" the improved Autopilot would have prevented the death of Brown, whose car sped into the trailer of a truck crossing a highway, but he cautioned that the update "doesn't mean perfect safety."

14 of 160 comments (clear)

  1. So what was the prior feature? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So he admits from his own mouth that the previous technology is a killer?

    1. Re:So what was the prior feature? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      No, all he said is that he expects that the new software will keep a few more Darwin award candidates in the gene pool. There still is such a thing as personal responsibility. Even in the USA.

    2. Re:So what was the prior feature? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 4, Funny

      The notion that newer car technology is safer than older car technology will completely blow their minds!

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    3. Re:So what was the prior feature? by Junta · · Score: 5, Interesting

      This is less like something like adding airbags and more like when airbags explode with shrapnel.

      The former is an improvement that's seen as natural evolution of things. The second is a safety problem where a functionality is likely to do more harm than good and comes with liability issues.

      Here, Tesla may be found to have been irresponsible by calling the feature 'autopilot' with a bunch of connotations in the minds of the users causing them to watch DVDs instead of driving. Additionally, 'beta testing' highly dangerous functionality is not something car companies generally get to do. When it comes to anything resembling autonomous vehicle operation, you can point at *any* other company and how extremely careful and conservative they are being. Even with similar 'lane assist' technologies that are in production vehicles, they *already* were being far more strict about monitoring driver attention than Tesla was.

      So here we have Tesla being more aggressive about how 'automatic' things are, taking less measures for safety than the rest of the market offering equivalent feature today, and not being as conservative as the efforts that are what Tesla purports this technology to be.

      I know there is a desire to bow down and really kiss up to Tesla, but they need to be held to the same standards as their competitors. They are not holy saviors of our society. They aren't even the only electric car company. They are certainly not the most accessible/affordable things. They have done nothing to earn having a blind eye turned to their mistakes.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    4. Re:So what was the prior feature? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 2

      Yes, and cars don't have actual highly trained drivers, obviously. ;) They just let anyone drive these days, even people calling others "stupid fuckwits".

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    5. Re:So what was the prior feature? by Anubis+IV · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So he admits from his own mouth that the previous technology is a killer?

      That's faulty logic. If a hospital upgrades to some just-released equipment and is able to save more people as a result, that doesn't mean that they killed the people who could have been saved by that equipment, had it been available earlier. The state of the art is constantly getting better. Admitting that the newer stuff is more safe than the older stuff doesn't mean that the older stuff was killing people. Quite the contrary, since in many cases that older stuff saved a number of lives that would have been lost had people relied on the alternatives that were otherwise available at the time. Saying that the newer stuff is even more safe just means that we have something even better now.

      Of course, I say all of this to point out the fault in your logic, not to suggest that I think Autopilot is ready for primetime already. Because it's not.

    6. Re:So what was the prior feature? by MattskEE · · Score: 2

      Your statement is not backed up by data. Fatal Tesla crashes make the news far more readily than any other vehicle which leads you to falsely conclude that they are less safe than other vehicles, a fact not born out by data. Nearly 100 people die every day driving on US roads.

      Further, multiple drivers have falsely claimed that they had Autopilot engaged during a crash. But due to our rapid news cycle people are far more likely to read the first article that says Autopilot caused a crash and skip over the followup article where it explains that the driver was driving unsafely and lying about Autpilot being engaged.

      You cannot rely on your impressions to make an informed judgement about this topic, only data matters. The NHTSA is looking into the matter (as they should) and will let you know if there really is a safety problem.

    7. Re:So what was the prior feature? by Junta · · Score: 2

      GM was crucified in the media for that. No one took GM's side on that. That is how reaction *should* be.

      With Tesla, tons of folks are white knighting for a luxury car brand. It's insane.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  2. "the system will temporarily shut off" by fustakrakich · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What does that mean? Will the vehicle quickly slow to a stop? Will it veer off a cliff or into a building or "let go of the wheel" and start swerving to scare the driver into grabbing hold? The statement doesn't make much sense.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:"the system will temporarily shut off" by fustakrakich · · Score: 2

      Well, the thing should at least scream over the speakers, *Hey dumbass! You're all gonna die if you don't grab the wheel and hit the brakes!* to get the guy's attention. A little flashing light and chime won't cut it. More than one airliner has crashed because the pilot didn't know the autopilot disengaged.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  3. Re:Let's talk about the name! by phantomfive · · Score: 3, Informative

    Let's be honest, if the driver had thought of it as 'assist' rather than 'auto', and had been paying attention, he wouldn't have died.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  4. Re:Let's talk about the name! by phantomfive · · Score: 2

    with a big disclaimer you must agree to.

    You're a moron if you think people read those.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  5. Goofy by fluffernutter · · Score: 2

    When I first read about this comment, all that ran through my mind was the voice of Goofy saying, "Heeeyuk well I guess THAT didn't work, lets try something different!"

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  6. I won't trust a Telsa autopilot for a long time. by superdave80 · · Score: 2

    When I found out the cause of the fatal wreck (the sky was cloudy white, and so was the trailer!) I couldn't believe it. You would think that the FIRST thing you do with an autopilot program is to make sure it can see properly in front of the vehicle. Or combine it with radar. Or... something. But an autopilot that runs full speed into a giant truck/trailer without even realizing that it is even there is a complete and utter failure. What would happen if there was a blue trailer that was a similar color of the blue sky? Or an empty flatbed trailer. Would it run into those as well?