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Tesla Model X driver dies in Mountain View crash
Submitted via IRC for Fnord666
The driver of a Tesla Model X has died following a highway crash in Mountain View, leaving a number of safety questions.
Source: https://www.engadget.com/2018/03/24/tesla-model-x-driver-dies-in-mountain-view-crash/
Tesla Crash: Model X Was In Autopilot Mode, Firm Says
In a post on its website, the electric-car maker said computer logs retrieved from the wrecked SUV show that Tesla's driver-assisting Autopilot technology was engaged and that the driver doesn't appear to have grabbed the steering wheel in the seconds before the crash.
The car's 38-year-old driver died after the vehicle hit a concrete lane divider on a Northern California freeway and caught fire. The accident happened March 23.
[...] In its Friday post, Tesla said the crashed Model X's computer logs show that the driver's hands weren't detected on the steering wheel for 6 seconds prior to the accident. It said they also show the driver had "about five seconds and 150 meters of unobstructed view of the concrete divider" before the crash but that "no action was taken."
The company cited various statistics in defending Autopilot in the post and said there's no doubt the technology makes vehicles safer than traditional cars.
"Over a year ago," the post said, "our first iteration of Autopilot was found by the US government to reduce crash rates by as much as 40 percent. Internal data confirms that recent updates to Autopilot have improved system reliability."
"Tesla Autopilot does not prevent all accidents -- such a standard would be impossible -- but it makes them much less likely to occur," the post reads. "It unequivocally makes the world safer for the vehicle occupants, pedestrians and cyclists."
(Score: 4, Interesting) by ilsa on Monday April 02 2018, @05:00PM (6 children)
I think these problems all stem from a badly chosen name.
People see 'autopilot' and think that they suddenly driving KITT and no longer need to pay attention or take responsibility for their driving. The technology just isn't there yet. Period.
Tesla needs to bite the bullet and accept that people are too damned lazy to read the instruction manual for such a critical feature and understand the limitations and requirements. That means changing the name to something less Sci-Fi-y and more accurate to the features that it provides.
Something like "Driver Assist" is a less sexy sounding name, but would do a much better job of setting expectations.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday April 02 2018, @07:07PM
In the case of the video in the first post, "Lane following" would be the exact term to use.
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Tuesday April 03 2018, @03:06AM (1 child)
The name is fine. Do people think airplane autopilot means the human pilot is going to take a nap? Fuck no.
"Autopilot" is used entirely correctly here. You can't fix stupid. Someone is going to turn on the feature, see how well it works for 15 seconds, and just assume it's perfect.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 03 2018, @04:59AM
You're wrong. An autopilot can function without human intervention for 95 % or more of most flights. And it would be pretty safe for the human pilots to take a one hour nap, even if they don't do that for obvious reasons. A Tesla "Autopilot" can't do those things. Or maybe they should set it up to just try to drive like the crow flies in a straight line to the destination, no matter what the obstacles. That would be like a "real autopilot".
(Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Tuesday April 03 2018, @08:09AM
'Driver Assist' can be made a lot sexier. Literally, I mean. For a price, of course.
Just sayin'.
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 03 2018, @08:21AM
While I agree that calling it "Autopilot" makes people believe that it can do all those things that autopilots can do in movies, that's only half of the problem.
The other part is that the human brain is entirely unfit for tirelessly monitoring a situation, ready to take over at split second notice. Humans get bored, start playing with their phones, daydream, fall asleep, etc. They got the whole thing backwards. Computers are good at monitoring and taking over at split second notice, so it should be the computer ready to take over if the driver is about to kill someone, and they expand slowly from that side until they've got everything sorted out. NOT letting the computer do the driving and requiring the person to take over once he's fallen asleep.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by tonyPick on Tuesday April 03 2018, @08:28AM
I think these problems all stem from a
badly chosen namedeliberately misleading name, selected by Tesla's Marketing department to make the car sound better than it is, and sell more units.FTFY.