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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.)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by theluggage on Sunday November 04 2018, @10:28PM (4 children)
Seems to me that Tesla are getting away with it because they can always blame the driver for ignoring warnings. What they're doing is still stupid and dangerous - if you sell something as "autopilot" of course people are going to treat it like a Hollywood airplane get-up-and-have-a-fist-fight autopilot.
Maybe a third party who suffered damages from an out-of-control Tesla would have better luck suing them - they wouldn't be negligent for ignoring Tesla's small print.
If I were inclined to conspiracy theories I'd be tempted to think that the whole "self-driving car" thing was dreamed up by Big Oil and the Lizard People as a tar baby for the whole electric car industry. The technology may be 95% there, but we all know that the last 5% takes 95% of the time - and a 95% self-driving car that relies on the driver staying alert to cope with the 5% is a recipe for carnage.
(Score: 2) by boltronics on Monday November 05 2018, @02:32AM (1 child)
Agreed, Tesla shouldn't be selling it they way they allegedly did.
I would also argue that going onto the road in a vehicle that has the strong possibility of killing people in the event of a collision without so much as bothering to read the manual, is at least as bad.
It's GNU/Linux dammit!
(Score: 2) by theluggage on Monday November 05 2018, @08:14PM
True. I don't know why some people seem to think that, in order to place blame on one party, you have to take it away from someone else. There's always more than enough for everybody...
Of course, since every instruction manual is now 90% condescendingly obvious safety warnings that treat the most modest of domestic implements as a potential Weapon of Mass Destruction* I have a small quantum of sympathy for someone who might have missed the one saying "Warning - don't expect the autopilot to automatically pilot your car".
(* Warning - do not operate the Megadeath Omega 666 Doomsday Bomb with wet hands. Always seek the land owner's permission before reducing their continent to a radioactive plain of fused glass.)
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Tuesday November 06 2018, @04:10AM (1 child)
How many of these people would ride a plane where the pilots were busy not paying attention with the autopilot engaged? Yeah, no, that excuse doesn't fly.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 2) by theluggage on Wednesday November 07 2018, @12:26AM
Er... most of them? After all, that's how autopilots work in the movies, although I do think that one where the inflatable pilot appears and starts smiling after he gets, er, personal service from the stewardess might have been slightly inaccurate.
Like 95% of people, I'm not a pilot - I don't personally know, or have any reason to know, exactly what the constraints are on the use of autopilots in aviation although I'm pretty sure you don't need to keep your hands on the controls. Airplane! jokes aside, I've seen plenty of "serious" movies and TV in which autopilots are shown flying planes unattended, and heard references to modern airliners being able to land and take off by themselves. I've seen at least one documentary where a pilot picks up a clipboard and fills out a checklist while the autopilot flies the plane. Now, it just so happens that I'm a skeptical bastard who starts with the assumption that if its on a TV or movie screen then its a lie even if it says "documentary" on the title. Others are more skeptical (some start letter writing campaigns to get fictitious characters in or out of jail).
I guarantee that a significant proportion of the population are absolutely certain that its perfectly fine to leave a 747 on autopilot while you make a coffee.
50% of people are below median* intelligence.
Also, it doesn't even matter if you know that you're meant to pay attention and be ready to intervene - without the physical action of driving to keep you on-task many people will just zone out. For the moment, its much better to have the computer acting as a second pair of eyes for the driver than vice-versa.
Oh, and I wouldn't get on a plane if it was continually passing within a few feet of other planes flying in the opposite direction while being tailgated by a large white German plane driven by a caffeine-addled stockbroker who was going to rear-end you when you suddenly braked to avoid a helicopter that was inexplicably stopped in the middle of the flight path. I'm not sure the concept of an airplane autopilot even applies to driving.
(* including everybody who just assumes that every distribution is symmetrical)