Based on videos and observed driving behavior, it seems the marketing and documentation for Autopilot is ineffective at communicating to drivers that Autopilot is basically advanced cruise control. If this is correct, it represents a systemic issue that should be investigated by the NTSB or NHTSA.
"THE PERSON IN THE SEAT IS ONLY THERE FOR LEGAL REASONS.
HE IS NOT DOING ANYTHING. THE CAR IS DRIVING ITSELF."
Total lie unless they are psycopaths and would be willing to run it with no one in the seat if not for legal reasons. In other words unless they were willing to murder if murder were legal--the video is from 2018 or maybe even earlier, where we know they were nowhere near ready for driverless.
Do you think they could have filmed that video with no driver in the seat without high risk of killing someone? Only "legal reasons" kept them from doing it, they have no ethics?
On top of that it greatly mislead people about how soon it would be, and how far along they were. Buyers who they were charging like $9,000 to at the time.
The moment you use Autopilot it's evident that it's basically a fancy cruise control. You're assuming some people would not interfere with Autopilot in any scenario. To think somehow people with that much lack of common sense exist is odd. It shows a massive level of disregard for those people's ability to perform basic functions.
I literally saw a driver operating erratically in stop and go traffic. As I attempted to pass I noticed they were reading a book and driving “hands free.” They were driving a Tesla, and presumably using Autopilot. I’m sure some people operate like they’re a test driver, but there’s also folks who don’t understand the basic functions of being a tester.
