“the report called out Tesla as an “industry outlier” because its driver assistance features lacked some of the basic precautions taken by its competitors. ”
“Tesla Autopilot Was Uniquely Risky—and May Still Be”
#Tesla apparently switched on (not just offered—switched on) #FSD#FullSelfDriving on all cars this month, apparently to goose their numbers.
“I’ve rarely been so frightened behind the wheel of my own car. As an experience it ranks right up there with driving that one stretch of the 880 where you’re supposed to go at 45mph and everybody drives twice that, the time I was riding in a Lyft and was jackknifed by a tow truck, or that one time I was driving on the 101 North and a tech bro Lamborghini shot out of the Highway 12 offramp and came within two inches of hitting me, spun around in the road, and careened off into the distance.”
“So would I pay the money for it? Fear on this level seems like a pretty poor use of $12,000 or $199 a month. You can rent a horror movie for $2.99, and paying attention to America is free.”
Hans von Ohain & Erik Rossiter were on their way to play golf one afternoon in 2022 when von Ohain’s #Tesla suddenly swerved off Upper Bear Creek Road. The car’s driver-assistance #software, Full #SelfDriving, was struggling to navigate the mountain curves, forcing von Ohain repeatedly to yank it back on course.
“The first time it happened, I was like, ‘Is that normal?’” recalled Rossiter, who described the 5-mile drive on the outskirts of Denver as “uncomfortable.” “And he was like, ‘Yeah, that happens every now & then.’”
Hours later, on the way home, the #Tesla Model 3 barreled into a tree & exploded in flames, killing von Ohain, a Tesla employee & devoted fan of CEO #ElonMusk.
Rossiter, who survived the crash, told emergency responders that von Ohain was using an “#AutoDrive feature on the Tesla” that “just ran straight off the road,” acc/to a 911 dispatch recording…. In a recent interview, Rossiter said he believes that von Ohain was using #FullSelfDriving, which — if true — would make his death the first known fatality involving #Tesla’s most advanced driver-assistance #technology.
Elizabeth Warren is raising concerns to Tesla Board Chairman Robyn Denholm that its Board of Directors failed to meet its legal responsibility to protect Tesla and uphold its fiduciary duty to shareholders from Elon Musk's actions after he bought Twitter.