Tesla Owner And Passenger Escape Uninjured After Claiming Autopilot Crashed Model X Causing Rollover

This whole Autopilot thing has been so mis-handled from Tesla's perspective (first huge mistake was branding the technology "Autopilot" which it clearly is not) that as the body count increases, NHTSA may even issue a "stop sale" "stop usage" recall until Tesla can demonstrate the cars are safe again.

That would be disastrous for Tesla and its owners.

I always thought Tesla's death would be slow and drawn-out, due to financial issues, but I now think that this PR is so botched, that the end will come as a result of these Autopilot issues.

Scary, really scary.

"...until Tesla can demonstrate the cars are safe again..."

I think Tesla has shown that the Autopilot program is safe. Many of these accidents are mostly operator-error or misuse of the system entirely - despite the numerous (obvious) warnings concerning driver attention to environment and traffic conditions. And just how fast does the Autopilot system respond to adverse driving conditions? If a car is traveling in excess of 80mph when there's some type of change in traffic conditions, the systems has only seconds to respond & make immediate adjustments.

Without giving actual driving lessons & testing sessions, seems like drivers "assume" they know the system & are confident with its operation. It's not until something unexpected happens on the road - or maybe drivers "freak out" and just make the wrong decisions - that these major/fatal incidents are occurring.

Since Tesla can automatically update their installed base, perhaps they ought to send out disabling software until this "feature" has been sorted out to be safe.

Agree and stop the idiot Musk from bragging about how advanced his vehicles are when they aren't.

So what YOU are saying Runbuh is that ALL model X vehicle owners are actually unpaid Beta testers for a product that has not been proven whether they like it or not. Sorry - but that is NOT the way it is supposed to work in real life. What you would do is offer the software for testing to a group of the owners - and instruct them on how to test it. (Ie - hands on the wheel). The owners then have the option of not having to be test monkeys. In this case - the "feature" was offered as advanced and safe -something that it was never established to be.

That is why all manufacturers actually put their cars(And software makers put their programs) through extensive testing procedures long before they are released to their customers. And they still have things that fall through the cracks. However - this software is far from ready for prime time - and the people who use it should KNOW that they are Beta Testing it - and for them to expect problems that they would report for correction.

Had to smile at the picture of the model X with the falcon doors open like that. Last week in in NYC in busy hectic rush hour traffic the cab I was in drove right under the open falcon door of a Model X parked on 6th Ave., near 47th. The door was sticking out into the traffic lane. The cabbie opined that if his cab was any taller he would have taken the door right off!

Tesla has ALWAYS stated, and ALWAYS told their customers, this is a driver-assistance system, and not an autonomous driving system; the driver must always be attentive and take control over from the system when appropriate. That's a fact.

Unfortunately...

(1) Tesla named their product "autopilot", which most people have heard of and understand to mean a fully autonomous flight control system found in aircraft.

(2) Tesla (wrongly) assumed that if you write important info to your customer and/or display it on a screen, your customer will (a) read it, (b) understand it correctly, (c) act in accordance to your directive, (d) assume responsibility for their choices and actions.

(3) The media and social media care much less about facts, and much more about how they feel. Remember the Audi unintended acceleration scandal, which turned out to be caused entirely by "pedal misapplication" (AKA driver error). Remember the Toyota scandal that repeated the same story? The facts don't matter. Someone got hurt or died -> it's not my fault -> some should be punished -> lawsuits, government inquiries and inquisitions, witch hunts, bad press, public mood goes ugly, pitchforks and torches, etc.

This is not news, but is is a sad reflection of the mindset at work.

FWIW, as soon as I heard of the "autopilot" product, I concluded I do not trust it, and I would not use it. Simple as that. And after seeing some scary YouTube videos of people using it, that just reinforced my already formed opinion.