Meghana KandraConsumer advocate group Consumer Reports (CR) says that Tesla’s Full-self driving technology doesn’t have safeguards. They posted videos showing concerns like “vehicles missing turns, scraping against bushes, and heading toward parked cars.”
Image credits- Teslarati
The oldest argument for the safety of Tesla’s autonomous feature is that Tesla mentions in the website and app that the driver must be fully attentive. While there were only Beta testers earlier, the software is not released to everyone in select locations in the US.
Consumer Reports stated that they will test the recent update on Model Y as soon as the update is available. NHSTA who is currently working on Tesla car crashes declined to comment. Often the car crashes are seen to not have Tesla Autopilot mode on. While 30 cases were opened, there were 10 deaths among them. However, due to uncertainty, the cases are left hanging.
Jake Fisher, senior director of Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center said, Videos of FSD Beta 9 in action don’t show a system that makes driving safer or even less stressful. Consumers are simply paying to be test engineers for developing technology without adequate safety protection.”
After Tesla shifted to pure vision their presence in the NHSTA as safest technology was removed, as they were yet to be tested. But, Tesla claims that their technology is safest among the ones available in the market. Safety has always been their highest priority. Below is the tweet replied by Elon Musk saying that there are known issues in the software.
Running preproduction software is both work & fun. Beta list was in stasis, as we had many known issues to fix.
Beta 9 addresses most known issues, but there will be unknown issues, so please be paranoid.
Safety is always top priority at Tesla.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2021
Didn’t try the new update
As the Consumer Reports Tesla Model Y doesn’t have the recent Version 9 update they cannot say with confidence. However, mention that their confidence is not high because of the recent videos about the recent update. The vehicle missing some parts and parking when there is a car is more than little ignorable incidents.
Despite all the controversies, Tesla FSD mentions on its website, “FSD’s currently enabled features do not make the vehicle autonomous. The currently enabled features require a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment.”
More or less, the lack of seriousness of the hazards of misusing the FSD feature is not well known. For the owners who are Tesla fans who are aware of the accidents and challenges, it could be acceptable. However, when it comes to younger ones or other kinds of people who are into experiments testing the vehicle while sleeping or driverless is being careless.
Software will be more respectful of pedestrians, cyclists, and skateboarders than human drivers ever could be with even 100 years of public awareness
Advanced driver assistance systems are a game changer for people who don’t want to use cars. $TSLA @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/bhDytL5lcu
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) July 20, 2021
As the above video shows, the Tesla self-driving technology is incredible, it could be actually helpful if used well. Despite having fundamental problems, according to many Tesla fans, it is worth paying for the technology. It is hard to ignore how customers are paying engineers for a technology that is yet to be fully developed.