Senator Tells Tesla to Stop Calling It 'Autopilot'

Senator Tells Tesla to Stop Calling It 'Autopilot'

4 years ago
Anonymous $yQ5BfQaAxy

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wxeje4/senator-tells-tesla-to-stop-calling-it-autopilot

Most automakers offer some form of advanced driver assistance features, including automatic lane keeping on highways and radar cruise control. Tesla’s Autopilot, for all its faults, is one of the most advanced available. When enabled on highways, the car will handle most of the driving, but the driver still needs to be alert and ready to take over should an unexpected situation come up. For example, multiple people have died in separate incidents where Teslas slammed into 18-wheelers crossing highways that, for whatever reason, Autopilot did not properly recognize.

After an investigation into Autopilot following these incidents, Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts praised Tesla for popularizing electric vehicles, but called Autopilot “a flawed system.” He recommended two fixes: rebrand and remarket Autopilot as something that sounds less, well, Autopilot-y, and implement “backup driver monitoring tools” to prevent misuse.