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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday November 04 2018, @07:04AM   Printer-friendly
from the shouldn't-it-be-auto-driver? dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Another Tesla with Autopilot crashed into a stationary object—the driver is suing

Earlier this month, Shawn Hudson's Tesla Model S crashed into a stalled car while moving at about 80 miles per hour on a Florida freeway. Tesla's Autopilot technology was engaged at the time, and Hudson has now filed a lawsuit against Tesla in state courts.

"Through a pervasive national marketing campaign and a purposefully manipulative sales pitch, Tesla has duped consumers" into believing that Autpilot can "transport passengers at highway speeds with minimal input and oversight," the lawsuit says.

Hudson had a two-hour commute to his job at an auto dealership. He says that he heard about Tesla's Autopilot technology last year and went to a Tesla dealership to learn more.

"Tesla's sales representative reassured Hudson that all he needed to do as the driver of the vehicle is to occasionally place his hand on the steering wheel and that the vehicle would 'do everything else,'" the lawsuit claims.

Tesla blames driver in last month's fatal crash with Autopilot engaged

But that description of Tesla's Autopilot system is not true. While the system can handle a range of driving conditions, it's not designed to stop for parked cars or other stationary objects when traveling at highway speeds. This year, at least two other Tesla drivers have plowed into parked vehicles while their cars were in Autopilot mode (one of them sued Tesla last month). Another Tesla customer, Californian Walter Huang, was killed when his Tesla vehicle ran into a concrete lane divider at full speed.

"It is the driver's responsibility to remain attentive to their surroundings and in control of the vehicle at all times," a Tesla spokesman told Ars by email. "Tesla goes to great lengths to provide clear instructions about what Autopilot is and is not, including by offering driver instructions when owners test drive and take delivery of their car, before drivers enable Autopilot and every single time they use Autopilot, as well as through the Owner's Manual and Release Notes for software updates." (I've reproduced Tesla's full emailed statement at the end of the story.)


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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by Blymie on Sunday November 04 2018, @08:16AM (9 children)

    by Blymie (4020) on Sunday November 04 2018, @08:16AM (#757531)

    Uh, no. It *does* matter what the salesman says, but in most cases you'd be suing a dealership for lying.

    In this case there are no dealerships, as Tesla is the only one that sells their cars. And any representative of a corp, binds that corp to verbal contracts, potential issues with fraud, and other blather when discussing things with you.

    That is if that person meets a variety of tests, such as "this person is doing a job assigned by corp $x, and it is reasonable to see them as a representative". Salesman is definitely there.

    You aren't bound by a manual, FYI, unless you sign some agreement. It's not a contract.

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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 04 2018, @12:20PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 04 2018, @12:20PM (#757580)

    Some recording or whatever. Every luser who failed to RTFM, goes to blame everything and everyone but himself; words of mouth from such a source mean nothing.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 04 2018, @02:51PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 04 2018, @02:51PM (#757621)

      It doesn't matter what the manual says, it's called "autopilot" which in the minds of the general public means exactly what the plaintiff is alleging he was told by the salesperson.

      Here on the site we know better, but let's be honest about the fact that the prefix "auto" has a meaning and "pilot" does as well. The term really means self drive, but in other contexts there's a slightly different set of expectations placed on those systems. Those systems also are not used by people without a ton of specialized training to make sure they can operate the vehicle if the autopilot can't and to know what the autopilot can and can't do.

      • (Score: 1) by Sulla on Sunday November 04 2018, @03:06PM (2 children)

        by Sulla (5173) on Sunday November 04 2018, @03:06PM (#757627) Journal

        minds of the general public

        These are people who can afford to buy Teslas

        --
        Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
        • (Score: 5, Insightful) by number11 on Sunday November 04 2018, @03:56PM (1 child)

          by number11 (1170) Subscriber Badge on Sunday November 04 2018, @03:56PM (#757640)

          These are people who can afford to buy Teslas

          Minimal observation shows that having money is not an indicator of intelligence or competence.

          • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 05 2018, @12:46AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 05 2018, @12:46AM (#757798)

            In fact, money seems to be inversely proportional to intelligence and competence.

    • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Monday November 05 2018, @07:41PM

      by urza9814 (3954) on Monday November 05 2018, @07:41PM (#758158) Journal

      Fuck that, let's set some precedents that allow suing companies into oblivion for the blatant scams that their sales teams run. Maybe then companies will start to think twice about promising *fucking everything, even when none of it exists yet* just to win a contract...

  • (Score: 2) by Spamalope on Sunday November 04 2018, @01:55PM (2 children)

    by Spamalope (5233) on Sunday November 04 2018, @01:55PM (#757604) Homepage

    Dealers won't sell the car without a sales contract saying basically 'we can do the opposite of everything the salesman promised and you agree that it's your problem as a condition of the sale'. It's always in there.

    Also - if the salesman promises anything about the car - make them put it in the vehicle description on the sales contract - or it's a lie. (ex: Car smashed in accident while being transported from the factory, repaired badly and sold as new - blows broken glass fragments into eye of buyer - contract doesn't say unrepaired... sigh)

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 04 2018, @02:54PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 04 2018, @02:54PM (#757622)

      That's why we need to stop electing and appointing incompetent judges. How the dealership interprets the contract isn't the legal standard, it's how the 2nd party interprets it. If there's more than one interpretation, it's supposed to be the 2nd party's interpretation that is used, not the party that wrote the freaking contract. And it's like that specifically because of things like this.

      You shouldn't have to be a lawyer to avoid being ripped off by the fraudulent behavior of dealers.

    • (Score: 2) by Whoever on Sunday November 04 2018, @06:02PM

      by Whoever (4524) on Sunday November 04 2018, @06:02PM (#757683) Journal

      Dealers won't sell the car without a sales contract saying basically 'we can do the opposite of everything the salesman promised and you agree that it's your problem as a condition of the sale'. It's always in there.

      It's called an "integrated contract".