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Germany Tells Tesla To Not Advertise Autopilot Feature, Fears Drivers Will Become Less Attentive (fortune.com)

Posted by msmash on from the public-best-interest dept.

German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt has asked Tesla to stop advertising its electric vehicles as having an Autopilot function, as this might suggest drivers' attention is not needed, his ministry said on Sunday. Reuters reports: A spokeswoman for the ministry, confirming a report in the daily Bild am Sonntag (BamS), said the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) had written to Tesla to make the request. "It can be confirmed that a letter to Tesla exists with the request to no longer use the misleading term Autopilot for the driver assistance system of the car," she said in a written response to a Reuters' query.

4 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. Change the name! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Seriously Tesla, CHANGE THE GOD DAMN NAME. This is NOT an "auto-pilot" in the way that nearly everyone would think it is from watching movies and what not, this is just an advanced form of Cruise Control.
    Every bullcrap that comes out related to auto-pilot would've been a no issue if they didn't make people misunderstand what auto-pilot is just by the name. They expect people to actually READ the instructions on what it is when first activating it, when they should be aware that NOBODY reads the god damn manual, much less on-screen instructions! Otherwise customer support wouldn't be a job.

    1. Re:Change the name! by thegarbz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This is NOT an "auto-pilot" in the way

      Yeah tell me about it. It's far more advanced than that.

      Oh wait you also don't know how simple autopilot is in real life and apply your own pre-conception to the term?

    2. Re:Change the name! by ArtemaOne · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Why aren't you raging about the airline industry calling their system "auto-pilot" when it is far less capable in terms of maneuvering in comparison to Tesla's?

    3. Re:Change the name! by Plus1Entropy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Oh wait you also don't know how simple autopilot is in real life and apply your own pre-conception to the term?

      But that's exactly the problem. Most people don't understand what an autopilot is, so when they hear the term they apply that exact pre-conception. I imagine that some portion of training new pilots involves a very specific explanation of what the auto-pilot is capable of, and, more importantly, what it isn't capable of. Until auto-pilot systems become ubiquitous in cars (which may be superseded by fully autonomous vehicles before that can happen), it doesn't make sense to include this kind of training for every new driver. Not to mention all the existing drivers who would have to go back to driving school to learn it.

      The much simpler solution is for Tesla to change the name. In this case, perception trumps reality for the sake of safety. Yes, we are pandering to the ignorant, but if we could stop them from being ignorant, there wouldn't be a problem in the first place.

      --
      Only crack the nuts that crack. You don't put the ones that don't crack in the sack.