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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.

9 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 Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      I know. Clear, concise, and accurate can be frustrating.

    2. 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?

    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.
    4. Re:Change the name! by jaa101 · · Score: 2

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

      Aircraft autopilots are designed to allow pilots to take their hands off the controls. The Tesla "Autopilot" isn't. Game over. The Wikipedia article on Autopilots opens with the sentence "An autopilot is a system used to control the trajectory of a vehicle without constant 'hands-on' control by a human operator being required."

    5. Re:Change the name! by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Aircraft autopilots are designed to allow pilots to take their hands off the controls.

      They are not allowed to be any less attentive. The only reason they can take their hands off the controls is that if the vehicle drifts off course for a fraction of a second, that won't cause it to intersect another vehicle or an obstacle.

      The Tesla "Autopilot" isn't. Game over.

      The reason it is not game over or even squirrely shit is that you are not required to keep your hands on the controls of an airplane. You're required to operate both planes and cars in a safe manner, and what a safe manner is varies between the two because of physics.

      The Wikipedia article on Autopilots opens with the sentence "An autopilot is a system used to control the trajectory of a vehicle without constant 'hands-on' control by a human operator being required."

      They don't mean legally required. Also, Wikipedia is not an authoritative source on the meanings of words.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  2. Auto automatische Rücksitz Schwiegermutter by Steve1952 · · Score: 3, Funny

    May I suggest "Auto automatische Rücksitz Schwiegermutter", which as near as I can tell, translates into "Automobile backseat mother" (or mother in law). This should not result in driver over-confidence.

  3. Re: Auto automatische Rücksitz Schwiegermutte by bkmoore · · Score: 3, Informative

    "Schwiegermutter" is mother in law. "automatischer Rücksitzfahrer"- would be a literal translation for automatic backseat driver. But I don't think it has the same colequal meaning as it does in english. "Besserwisser" (know-it-all) or something similar comes to mind as a better translation for "back seat driver".

  4. Germans are Right by labnet · · Score: 2

    Having driven a Tesla S for a week, I found the autopilot dangerous and stopped using it.
    If your lighting is good, and you lane markings are good, it works OK; but other wise all you hear is a little bong and your on your own.

    The trouble with autopilot is you still need to 100% concentrate as it could give up at any moment or come across a condition it doesn't understand, but the feature lends you to taking 100% of your concentration off the task of driving.
    They should limit it to adaptive cruise control, e-braking, but not steering.

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