[maypeacepreva1l]

Tesla’s software is dangerous. I own one and I have to be a lot more alert than when I am actually driving. Just yesterday when I was driving rural town, it was stopping every time it sees a truck in the incoming lane. I suspect if something like that happened in this case as well.

[HarryHirsch]

I can't imagine having a Tesla with the drive-assist software in its current state. It's like having a mentally ill spouse at home, you always wonder what irrational thing is going to come next, you have no peace any second of the day. Now try that during something safety-critical, like driving. The constant hypervigilance is exhausting, and when you aren't looking, the Tesla drives itself into a traffic bollard. Why is such crap road-legal?

[tmountain]

I have a Model Y, and I don't feel comfortable with autopilot or lane assist. Both of them do "dumb stuff" regularly. The day I got the car, lane assist attempted to steer me into the center median of a highway when the car was going around 50 miles per hour. After that, I realized I'm not interested in "beta" features that put my life in danger. Autopilot drives like a paranoid grandma. It brakes constantly when it shouldn't. All that said, the car is a lot of fun, and I really enjoy it, but I choose to maintain full control at all times.

[heliodor]

Because our current form of government can't keep pace with the rate of new things.

[rootusrootus]

> The constant hypervigilance is exhausting

This is exactly it, IMO.

Whether you like AP or not largely comes down to how your driving style compares to the computer's. If you are a defensive driver, you won't really care for the kinds of obviously dumb situations AP will happily drive you into. Eventually it reacts, but it takes a lot longer for the sensors to notice what a human brain can easily predict is about to occur.

I found AP to be an interesting toy, but it never made driving more relaxing for me, because I had to be more aware, not less, of everything around me.

[antattack]

Autopilot is not as bad as you think it is, for one it does not stop abruptly. Thousands of drivers are using it regularly. Drivers report less fatigue and paying better attention to things that matter rather than keeping the car in line. Of course, there are some drivers that are not comfortable with it yet.

EU seem to have more stringent regulations - for example, to ensure that AI maneuvers will be less unexpected EU regulations put a hard rate limit on steering angle. Trouble with regulating at such level is that in some cases (curved roads, hazard avoidance) it makes the car less safe.

Overall, Level 2 systems, like Autopilot, are not autonomous and their performance depends in large part on drivers judgement. I think regulations need to focus on human - AI interface requirements a bit more.

[whiplash451]

I agree. Plus it is a lot more stressful to imagine that the car could stop randomly rather that hitting an object in front of you (which is already quite bad). The former is literally mentally exhausting.

[FinalBriefing]

and paying $10k for it, too. I imagine a number of customers paid for it, so they want to use it, no matter the state it is in.

[Ygg2]

Maybe the lawmakers, are asleep at the wheel?

[rr808]

As a non-owner it seems kinda scary with the regular updates that the behavior would change. One day it stops for trucks in small towns, the next day it doesnt.

[alistairSH]

Does Tesla force OTA updates, or can the owner turn they off and accept them manually?

[staktrace]

Your experience is not universal. In my case the combination of me+software is certainly safer than me alone, and also less taxing for me.

[rootusrootus]

It comes down to your driving style. Defensive drivers will not like how AP drives, and it makes driving much more tiring, not less. If you are comfortable with the way AP drives, though, I could see it being relaxing. Hell, some people sleep when AP is cruising down the highway, so clearly there is a spectrum.

[mathieubordere]

Can you explain how you come to the conclusion that it is safer?

[gugagore]

One person cannot drive enough miles in their lifetime to allow making a determination that one system is definitely safer than the other. The reliability that we require from an autonomous system means you might never experience a safety failure (again, even if you drive every minute of the rest of your life), but the system is still less safe.

[misiti3780]

I agree, and I think most Tesla owners feel this way, given that the AP outrage seems to manifest itself exclusively on hacker news.

[rootusrootus]

My wife forbade me from using AP [with her in the car] after a few phantom braking occurrences. I got sorta used to it and could jab the go pedal pretty fast, but it scared the daylights out of her. Can't really blame her. I get nervous enough as a passenger when there's a human driving, much less when a computer is driving that mistakes shadows for obstacles.

[thecleaner]

Exactly correcting software errors is a whole lot more effort than just sticking to your own way of driving.

[ajnin]

Tesla/Elon Musk have this weird irrational obsession with using only cameras for their autopilot. Yes, humans can drive using only two eyes (and also actually ears, touch feedback and acceleration sensors), but they also have a lot of accidents. It's not obvious that you can do better with software only, and in any case you're crippling yourself by not using additional inputs for no good reason.

[jazzyjackson]

> irrational obsession with using only cameras for their autopilot

it's so they can upsell FSD with the highest margin using the cheapest hardware (they're not even good cameras, 1280×960 resolution because they want to push pixels directly into their neural net, and dynamic range is poor, I will never understand how they didn't spring for infrared night vision, cadillacs had it 20 years ago)

[kbos87]

I think you could also say that people seem to have an irrational obsession with Tesla’s decision to only use cameras. Camera only systems aren’t uncommon among other automakers (Subaru Eyesight, for example.)

[actionfromafar]

Our human "cameras" also scan constantly, have crazy dynamic range, employ dynamic shades (hands) and move around several feet, inside a protective weather proof shield, as well employ "sensor fusion" with "microphones" and "vibration detectors".