Are we ready to gamble with lives for Autopilot driving fun?
We have not been a fan of Autopilot vehicles from the start even after being driven by a number of self driving cars in recent years.
Yes, they have mostly been in controlled conditions to avoid any issues and there were a couple of on road tests, one in China and another in Europe but with both tests there were technicians ready to take over the handling of the vehicle from a remote vehicle following us.
So, how many more ‘live’ tests are needed before car insurance companies and the police put a stop to this. Yes, we urge action be taken to stop allowing vehicles with Autopilot to be used on public roads until the technology is completely safe.
In our opinion, Autopilot works only on the open highway when drivers keep to their lanes and use turn signals properly to move from lane to lane. There must also be clear road markings to define the lanes and small motorcycles should not be whizzing around the lanes. So, for Malaysia this is not possible with our motorcyclists NOT keeping to their lanes.
This report was shared by Reuters and at print time Tesla has not responded to Reuters for a comment.
By the way, just a couple of days before on August 16th The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in North America said it had identified 11 crashes since January 2018 in which Teslas “have encountered first responder scenes and subsequently struck one or more vehicles involved with those scenes.”
The probe will take in 765,000 U.S. vehicles with Autopilot built since 2014. Tesla shares closed down 4.3 percent on this news.
Sussex Police Statement: Police are investigating a collision involving a car and pedestrians outside Ardingly College.
Officers responded to reports of a collision involving a blue Tesla car and pedestrians in College Road, Ardingly, shortly after 4.30pm on Monday (August 16).
An eight-year-old boy was flown by air ambulance to St George’s Hospital in London, where he remains. His injuries are serious but not life threatening.
Six other people – five children and one adult – were all taken to local hospitals for treatment to minor injuries.
The driver, a 47-year-old woman who was in the vehicle at the time of the collision, was uninjured.
Superintendent James Collis said: “I’d like to thank our emergency services partners and members of the public who assisted at the scene. Our thoughts are with those there yesterday and their families.
“The cause of the collision will form part of our investigation, and we ask people not to speculate at this time.
“Thank you to those that have already given details. Anyone else who saw what happened or who has any other information, including any relevant dash cam or mobile phone footage, is asked to please get in touch.”
