
Tesla Model 3 Road Trip – Statement Regarding Autopilot Collision - jijojv
https://www.facebook.com/tsla3/posts/942377245933745
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jijojv
Pasting from the FB page _____

I want to make it clear that I take responsibility in regards to my actions.
With that being said, I do not believe that there are many Tesla owners who,
when using Autopilot, always keep both hands on the wheel and provide their
undivided attention to monitoring the road and the software. This collision
was directly caused by the Autopilot software seriously malfunctioning and
misinterpreting the road. This collision could have happened to anyone who
does not expect a car travelling at a fast speed in a straight line to
suddenly and without warning, veer off course. After tens of thousands of
kilometres worth of Autopilot driving without major incidents, I have learned
to trust the software. Autopilot provides users with a strong sense of
security and reliability as it takes you to your destination and navigates
traffic on your behalf. Clearly, I had become too trusting of the software.

Autopilot is marketed as a driver assistance feature that reduces stress and
improves safety. However, the vigilance required to use the software, such as
keeping both hands on the wheel and constantly monitoring the system for
malfunctions or abnormal behaviour, arguably requires significantly more
attention than just driving the vehicle normally without use of Autopilot.
Furthermore, I believe that if Autopilot even has the small potential of
misreading a clearly marked gore point, and has the potential to drive into a
gore point and crash into a barrier, it should not be tested in beta, on the
open road, and by normal consumers. My experience is not unique as many
drivers have reported similar behaviour from Autopilot, and a fatal crash
involving Autopilot on a Model X may have been caused by a disturbingly
similar malfunction.

Many Tesla fans will likely dismiss this as fully my fault, but I implore
those who believe so to take a full step back and put themselves in my shoes,
as a driver who had used this amazing software for so long, and who could not
have anticipated such a sudden and violent jerk of the wheel to one direction
while travelling at a fast speed. I hope that my fellow owners will be less
dismissive of various incidents regarding Autopilot, and understand that the
general public views these severe collisions differently from the owner
community. Tesla is moving quickly into the mass market, and potential
customers in that segment aren’t going to ask, “why were both of his hands not
on the wheel while the car was in Autopilot?”, rather, they are going to ask
“why did the car swerve into the gore point without warning?”. The autonomous
driving movement as well as the Tesla community can only get stronger when we
tackle these questions and resolve the issues behind them.

