Tesla drivers try to blame Autopilot for their mistakes
The world was stunned when the media released the first footage of Tesla’s Autopilot system at work. The idea that you could sit back and watch a vehicle successfully navigate traffic, change lanes, and regulate its speed was something most people thought were years away from reality. However, as advanced as the Tesla driverless tech is, it isn’t perfect. Two Tesla owners found that out the hard way,
Two separate minor collisions involving Tesla’s and Autopilot made some waves this weekend as the claims seemingly implied that the vehicle’s autopilot could damage your car with inconsistent behaviour.
The first driver claimed his car drove into a trailer after he parked it. Meanwhile a second driver blamed Autopilot for failing to engage her vehicle’s brakes when she was approaching the car in front of her, causing her to rear end it.
However, Tesla soon proved that there was more to these drivers stories. Fortune reported that the company looked through data from the vehicles involved and found evidence that the accidents were actually due to human error not their programming.
When the first driver’s car drove itself into an overhanging trailer, Tesla’s logs showed that the driver had indeed been using the driverless “Summon” feature. But the log showed that he activated it and left the vehicle, something that Tesla is very clear one shouldn’t do.
Logs from the second driver’s car indicate she accidentally took the car out of autopilot mode when she briefly stepped on the brakes before expecting the car to do the rest.
The way Tesla used detailed data to see how people actually use their cars is no doubt a hint of how huge a part telematics will have in the development of autonomous driving. The situation is also a reminder that even if a car can drive itself, it has limitations that people should respect and if they don’t, they will be responsible for damages.