p>Teslas that claim to be “self-driving” keep crashing. According to new government data cited by the Associated Press, 11 people lost their lives in car accidents utilizing automated driving systems in the United States over a four-month period this year. Teslas were involved in ten of the accidents. The collisions indicate that Elon Musk’s Autopilot technology is far from perfect, even if it is not clear whether the technology itself was at fault.
Fortunately, there is an easy fix: take the bus. Public transit is the best autopilot technology in the nation.
Consider taking a train if you want to play Candy Crush while traveling. Think about using a trolly or a ferry if you want to read a book while listening to an album. And if it bothers you that you are unable to accomplish any of these things because you reside in a nation with a deteriorating public transportation system, it is possible to improve it without doing anything especially novel. We only need to construct.
Elon Musk wants you to believe that a Tesla can be turned on, tuned in, and left alone. He stated that Tesla’s autopilot system would likely drive “better than a person right now” in 2016. The car will be able to carry you from your home to your work, your friend’s house, or the grocery store without you touching the wheel, he claimed in a previous advertisement for a $15,000 “Full Self-Driving” software add-on.
The terminology used on the Tesla website is more appropriate. It states that using Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot, and Full Self-Driving Capability requires a fully alert driver who is holding the wheel and is ready to take control at any time. The currently active features do not render the car autonomous, even though they are intended to grow in capability over time.
But based on anecdotal evidence, many Tesla drivers do regard Autopilot as giving them free rein to recline. An Apple engineer was killed in 2018 when his Tesla Model X collided with a concrete barrier in California at a speed of 71 mph as he looked to be playing a video game on his phone.
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In 2019, a Tesla Model S that was in Autopilot mode crashed into a parked vehicle, killing a 22-year-old woman when the driver bent over to pick up his dropped cell phone. A North Carolina driver is said to have been viewing a movie on his phone in 2020 when his Tesla collided with a state trooper’s car.
Many federal and state agencies are worried. The Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly looking investigating Tesla officials’ comments on the safety of Autopilot in a civil matter, according to a report in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal. According to a Reuters article, the Department of Justice has opened a criminal inquiry into Tesla’s claims on Autopilot. Why not add a false advertising lawsuit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles for good measure?
My buddy responded, “It seems like it could work only if the cars were on some form of track,” when I told her this evening that I was working on a story about self-driving automobiles. She was right about the money. Humans first put cars on rails some 4,000 years ago.
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We’re really skilled at it now. Now, there are significantly fewer chances of killing a pedestrian or perishing in a fiery collision when using the subway in New York City, a cable car in San Francisco, or the bullet train to go through Japan. As long as you’re wearing headphones, no one will object if you stoop over to play a video game or view a movie on your phone during your commute. The least expensive Tesla model costs $46,990. MetroCards cost $2.75 each. The bus, according to Malcolm Harris, can even combat inflation.
