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When Shawn Hudson decided to buy a Tesla Model S last year, the autopilot was an essential selling point. His drive was brutal – 125 km in both directions, almost on the highway – and he thought the semi-autonomous driving system would make his life easier. On more than 98,000 miles of driving, he used it regularly, letting the computer keep the car in its hallway and away from other cars.
"I've been sold," he told the press at a press conference Tuesday morning. He relaxed during the long journey by checking his phone and sending emails.
That changed on a Friday morning a few weeks ago, as he went every day from his home in Winter Garden to his job at a Nissan dealership in Fort Pierce, Florida. Driving at about 80 mph on the left lane of the Florida Turnpike, with the autopilot activated, Hudson crashed onto a clueless Ford Fiesta and empty.
And in a lawsuit today against the builder, his lawyers wrote: "Tesla fooled consumers, including Hudson, into believing that the proposed autopilot system with Tesla vehicles at a cost additional can safely carry passengers at reduced highway speeds. passengers. "
According to the lawsuit filed in the Ninth Court of Justice in Florida, Hudson "would have sustained serious permanent injuries," including fractured vertebrae, said Hudson's lawyer Mike Morgan of Morgan & Morgan at the press conference. The lawsuit seeks US $ 15,000 in damages (Morgan & Morgan did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of this unexpected conservative figure is correct) and accuses Tesla of negligence, breach of the implied warranty or fitness for a particular purpose particular, and violation of Florida's misleading and unfair laws Act of Business Practices, among others. He also refers to the owner of the disabled Fiesta as a defendant, accusing him of negligence.
"We have no reason to believe that the autopilot malfunctioned or worked other than as expected," Tesla said in a statement. "When using the autopilot, it is the driver's responsibility to remain attentive to his environment and control his vehicle at all times. Tesla has always been clear on the fact that the autopilot does not make the car impervious to all accidents. Tesla strives to provide clear instructions on what autopilot is and does not do, including offering instructions to the driver when the owner tests the vehicle and takes delivery. car, before the drivers activate the autopilot and each time they use the autopilot, as well as through the owner's manual and update notes for software updates. "
Before using the autopilot for the first time, drivers must agree to monitor the road and keep their hands on the steering wheel. The car monitors the car and warns when the driver stays more than a few seconds without touching the steering wheel.
This is only the latest in a series of accidents in which Tesla cars equipped with an autopilot have collided with vehicles at a standstill. At least three Tesla hit fire trucks stopped in 2018 alone. This is a known weakness of the functionality, even mentioned in the Tesla manual: "Traffic-compliant cruise control can not detect all objects and can not brake / decelerate for vehicles at the same time. stop, especially when driving more than 80 km / h (50 mph). and a vehicle that you follow leaves your driving lane and a vehicle or stationary object is in front of you instead. For example, a Ford Fiesta sitting in the left lane.
Similar systems offered by Tesla's competitors, including Volvo, have the same disadvantages. It depends on how they use the radar data. The sensor detects everything from speed signs to Mack trucks. Engineers therefore have every interest in limiting false positives. It can be very dangerous to tighten the brakes for no reason, focusing on the moving parts. This is partly why all these manufacturers, including Tesla, insist that drivers pay constant attention to the road and keep their hands on the steering wheel or nearby.
Hudson says that at the moment of impact, he was looking at his phone. And his accident highlights the fact that a gap between what a car can do and what a human wrongly believes that it can do can have serious consequences.
In recent years, Tesla has been accused of failing to remedy this deficiency, particularly by the National Transportation Safety Board. In response, Tesla has reduced the amount of time you can keep your hands behind the wheel without warning a few seconds. After a few warnings, the autopilot turns off and can not be re-engaged until you restart the car. (Cadillac and Audi have developed systems to track the driver's head position and look at, respectively, more sophisticated ways of verifying that they are monitoring the road.)
According to the lawsuit, Tesla salespeople – who are Tesla employees; The manufacturer did not sell cars through franchisees, which helped Hudson's confidence in Autopilot. A sales representative said "that a consumer can purchase an autopilot upgrade with any Tesla vehicle that will allow the vehicle to drive from one point to another, with a minimum intervention or monitoring on the part of the user ", indicates the continuation. "Tesla sales representatives also informed Hudson that, if the vehicle detected a hazard, the autopilot system is designed to also alert passengers so they can take control of the vehicle if necessary."
The autopilot, however, is not able to recognize the obstacles it does not have to deal with – that's why it can not handle them. Again, that's why it's so important that humans stay alert at all times.
Tesla spokespersons did not answer WIRED's questions about these specific allegations and how Tesla trains its sales staff to explain the autopilot to consumers.
In any case, it is unlikely to be the last time that anyone questioned the design of autopilot and similar systems, as well as the responsibility that their managers should assume to ensure that they are not taken for granted when they proliferate. Tesla sold 83,500 cars in the third quarter of this year, more than in 2016. One of its most popular features? Automatic pilot.
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