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17 fatalities, 736 crashes: The shocking toll of Tesla’s Autopilot (web.archive.org)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that cars operating in Tesla’s Autopilot mode are safer than those piloted solely by human drivers, citing crash rates when the modes of driving are compared. He has pushed the carmaker to develop and deploy features programmed to maneuver the roads, arguing that the technology will usher in a safer, virtually accident-free future. While it’s impossible to say how many crashes may have been averted, the data shows clear flaws in the technology being tested in real time on America’s highways.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

Yeah this. Maybe I could agree that it’s too soon to be testing these auto pilots on the road, but I dislike how people miss the point with this tech. They set an impossible standard for a technology that could potentially be better than us on the road

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

@BlameThePeacock @tango_octogono Fair, and in principle I agree. But it's not (only) the people who miss the point and set an impossible standard but foremost Mr Elon Musk himself. He has been promoting Tesla's autopilot and even its self-driving capability for years (although the folks at Tesla will certainly know that the latter won't come anytime soon).

Tesla video promoting self-driving was staged, engineer testifies

A 2016 video that Tesla (TSLA.O) used to promote its self-driving technology was staged to show capabilities like stopping at a red light and accelerating at a green light that the system did not have, according to testimony by a senior engineer.

One of the things we needed for setting reasonable expectations regarding this tech is more reliable information also from Tesla and its CEO. As long as the company itself is frequently flooding the market with unrealistic "news" about this tech, it is good that there are independent investigations imo.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

They set an impossible standard for a technology

Maybe that's the case but it's not what the article says. Experts say that "the surge in Tesla crashes is troubling" and that "the number of fatalities compared to overall crashes was also a concern". And they are critical of Tesla as the company is obviously beta-testing a car on the highway without disclosing its data as others have already said.

I don't see someone setting impossible security standards, at least that's how I read the article. Tesla appears to value its profits more than the safety and lives of people.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I was talking in general and not necessarily about this article alone, although it plays some notes that are common in stories/articles critical of this technology, like using personal individual stories to appeal to emotion. It's an article so yeah I expect them to do that, but when it comes to safety it's better to look at the numbers, as every option will have tragic stories.

We humans suck at picking the better options if we let subjectivism and emotions take too much over the discourse. The US had a "war" over seat belts for example.

As for Tesla, not at all surprised about the points the article rose though. Few weeks ago we found out that Tesla asked employees to not register complaints on paper, and there was also the fiasco where employees where sharing around private images of their customers. Tesla is a sick company and I wouldn't be surprised if they have more skeletons in their closet.