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.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday October 17 2016, @08:43PM
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.