Why aren't there similar stories of people throwing rocks at Tesla vehicles?
Those vehicles are readily identifiable and have had safety issues from drivers using its cruise control as if it were autopilot. Moreover it's a goddamned battery on wheels which could put an enormous number of car service shops out of business. There are already laws in various states to keep Tesla out for that reason.
There could be a lot of reasons why someone throws rocks at a Waymo vehicle but also thinks Tesla is cool. Ludditism is not one of those reasons.
Except that they're opting for more passive agressive tactics as I'm sure that attacking a Tesla while someone is in it or the owner is near by would result in an immediate police report and charges pressed.
Why aren't there similar stories of people throwing rocks at Tesla vehicles?
Tesla vehicles are owned by individuals not a big SV company.
Plus, Tesla isn't currently a technology shift that will put a lot of people out of work and their self-driving is often touted in the media as not being actual self-driving and seems to only get the occupant of the cars killed so far. If a Tesla takes out a kid on the street you might see a change.
Someone spray-painted my wife’s Tesla while she was sitting at a stop light and ran away before she could believe it was happening. In a nice part of Silicon Valley. It happens.
The original Luddites didn’t hate all technology, just the tech (powered looms) that was putting them out of work. I suspect that’s behind every attack on technology.
That might have been out of hatred for people affluent enough to afford a Tesla, rather than a dislike of Teslas. Also many if not most vandals are motivated exclusively by the thrill of avoiding being caught.
> Why aren't there similar stories of people throwing rocks at Tesla vehicles?
Public perception, editor choice, etc. If we were to point out every bit of hypocrisy that is determined by what stories NYT runs vs what they don't, we'd have really long posts.
> There could be a lot of reasons why someone throws rocks at a Waymo vehicle but also thinks Tesla is cool. Ludditism is not one of those reasons.
True. But there can also be lots of reasons why people are very upset at Tesla's approach towards auto pilot but thinks Waymo is doing the right thing. Or think they are both wrong. The presence of the articles alone are not enough to determine sentiment especially at such small numbers. Which is why closed-picture articles aren't fair to use to paint a picture much larger than the individual actors.
Perhaps it's because Tesla's lane assist doesn't make unrealistic claims resulting in the deaths of uninvolved people. AFAIK the only deaths involving Tesla's autopilot were of the drivers themselves on highways.
> Resorting to violence because you’re not getting your way isn’t justified, it’s infantile.
By that logic nobody should ever fight for what they believe in. I'm not saying I agree with these people (or even that they are using the best tactics), but I absolutely believe people should take a stance for what they think is right.
Tesla's autopilot is just a lane assist, and similar features can be found on Honda's, Cadillacs, etc. From the videos I've seen, sure some people use them in neighbourhoods/suburbs, but it doesn't seem as useful. People who abuse them on freeways have been run into barriers and trucks before.
It's no where near the level of autonomy the Waymo cars are suppose to have. I can understand why people are upset considering how conservative the cars have to be; and the seemingly weird actions they often take. They don't seem to monitor other cars' turn signals nor do they really have a way to communicate to other vehicles at intersections like humans can with hands or facial expressions.
Why aren't there similar stories of people throwing rocks at Tesla vehicles?
Those vehicles are readily identifiable and have had safety issues from drivers using its cruise control as if it were autopilot. Moreover it's a goddamned battery on wheels which could put an enormous number of car service shops out of business. There are already laws in various states to keep Tesla out for that reason.
There could be a lot of reasons why someone throws rocks at a Waymo vehicle but also thinks Tesla is cool. Ludditism is not one of those reasons.