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takyon writes:

"Oh Jeeeesus": Drivers react to Tesla's full self-driving beta release

Last week, Tesla released an early version of its long-awaited "full self-driving" software to a limited number of customers. It was arguably Tesla's biggest Autopilot update ever. The software enables Tesla vehicles to autonomously navigate the vast majority of common roadway situations and complete many trips from start to finish.

[...] In another video, Brandon's Tesla was making a left turn but wasn't turning sharply enough to avoid hitting a car parked on the opposite side of the cross street. "Oh Jeeeesus," Brandon said as he grabbed the steering wheel and jerked it to the left. "Oh my God," Brandon's passenger added.

"That was a good example of this is still beta and how important it is to have control at all times," Brandon said. "It just steered directly into the back of this parked car, and it wasn't going to brake."

To be fair to Tesla, we don't know that either of these incidents would have necessarily led to a crash. Maybe the software would have realized its mistake and hit the brakes at the last second. And Brandon's overall impression of the technology was positive.

Minutes earlier, Brandon had raved about the software's performance. "Compared to when we did the drive two days ago, it's so much smoother," Brandon said. "The improvements from two software releases ago is incredible."

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