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posted by cmn32480 on Monday October 17 2016, @03:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the keep-your-eyes-on-the-road dept.

Germany's Federal Motor Authority recently sent letters to Tesla drivers reminding them that the "Autopilot" function is for driver assistance, not replacement. Now, Tesla is being warned against advertising the feature:

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.

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.


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  • (Score: 2) by weeds on Monday October 17 2016, @08:29PM

    by weeds (611) on Monday October 17 2016, @08:29PM (#415378) Journal

    "There's never a reason to prohibit a business from using a straightforward name..."

    Actually, there is, it's called false advertising. One pilots an aircraft, they drive a car. Calling the car's driver assist system an autopilot is a misnomer to begin with. The car's "autopilot" does not do what an aircraft autopilot does as any pilot can tell you. If it did, it would maintain heading, altitude, and airspeed (forgot that one in previous post.) Not much use in a car.

    Sitting back and watching stupid people kill themselves (and others) owing to their stupidity may make for enjoyable theater for some.

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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday October 17 2016, @08:41PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 17 2016, @08:41PM (#415387) Journal
    Ok, what is the false advertising? Are people unclear that Teslas are cars rather than planes or boats?

    And frankly, there are plenty of misnomers if we look even trivially at any part of society, like a computer. Where are the "keys" of a modern keyboard? All I see are buttons! The mouse isn't a real mouse. I want my money spent on the exercise wheel back. Male and female connectors, think of the children! Computer "memory" that forgets the moment you turn it off. A web browser? What twigs and shoots does it eat and where is its mouth? These strange technological terms frighten and confuse me!

    I think it is telling that people keep speaking of Tesla's supposed misleading or false advertising without actually coming up with an example of it.
  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday October 17 2016, @08:43PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 17 2016, @08:43PM (#415390) Journal

    Sitting back and watching stupid people kill themselves (and others) owing to their stupidity may make for enjoyable theater for some.

    Changing the name of the system to something which is perceived as being slightly more innocuous (there really isn't much room for improvement here) isn't going to make stupid people less stupid.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 17 2016, @09:04PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 17 2016, @09:04PM (#415412)

    > The car's "autopilot" does not do what an aircraft autopilot does as any pilot can tell you

    Sorry, I don't buy that.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 18 2016, @07:28AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 18 2016, @07:28AM (#415574)

      Try it yourself, then. Drive a to the top of a cliff. Set Tesla auto pilot to "maintain altitude". Drive off cliff.

      If you survive, you were right.

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday October 18 2016, @08:34PM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 18 2016, @08:34PM (#415832) Journal

        Set Tesla auto pilot to "maintain altitude".

        You do realize that a Tesla maintains its altitude just fine on a road?