Tesla Places Blame Of Deadly Autopilot Crash On Distracted Driver - Will This Stance Set Back The Industry?

Come buy an autonomous car or cross-over from us.1 Autonomous cars are the future and you can enjoy all the facebook and texting you want while behind the wheel. Tired... take a nap, you're in good hands!

1. Disclaimer... no way in hell will we claim responsibility when your car drives you into a concrete barrier, runs over someone or catches on fire. Even though we have the best autonomous and continuously meet deadlines to deliver them to our customers, you must keep your eyes on the road and hands on the wheel at all time. If you die or kill someone in autonomous mode, it is your fault.

I agree it's not the computer's fault because no one has said these autonomous systems were robust enough to warrant Level 5 independence. I really like to drive and be in control of my car-- for the most part I find electronic nannies to be an annoyance, though I support many of the safety features that are becoming standard in many current production vehicles. ABS and traction/stability control systems have dramatically improved safety. Cameras and sensors which improve visibility and relay proximity information are very helpful. Automatic collision avoidance technology may prevent or reduce the severity of accidents. Blind spot warning systems..maybe-- I've warmed to this a little but mostly find it annoying. The only time I'd really want to have the car steer for me or follow in line would be in stop and go traffic, so autonomous technology would be somewhat welcome in that slower speed sort of scenario, but I fail to see how anyone could trust Level V technology in mainstream use. These systems are run by computers and I realize that there are multiple systems with some sort of failsafe technology; however, my office and home computers function as designed most of the time without a glitch, but how many times have things happened where the computer is unexpectedly frozen, the keys have no effect and even CTL-Alt-Del does nothing. Yet, hard rebooting by holding the power button suddenly restores normal functioning. When looking at the autonomous vehicle technology how many million miles of testing would be necessary before you'd let the car drive you along at highway speed totally ignorant of your surroundings? All it takes is one computational error that crashes a sensor or actuator and you're history. And this assumes otherwise perfect programming that has taken into account every potential or real hazard.

Over the years there's been many articles about how AP doesn't work seamlessly, yet people still think it's 100% ok to not pay attention.
Mr. H (R.I.P.), even told his wife that the AP has faults and yet this didn't stop him from not maintaining awareness of his drive.
I don't own a Tesla, but from what I've read/seen there are acknowledgements that need to be agreed upon to use the system.
Maybe the solution is to have the robots voice from Lost in Space repeat "warning, warning your hands are not on the steering wheel" every few minutes. Or have the car do a little side-to-side in the lane to wake the driver up.
If Mr H fell asleep at the wheel or reading a text in a normal car, this would simply be considered a tragedy.
Drivers are still drivers and need to be aware of what's happening.

The Autonomous Industry has a lot to prove long before it will able to produce an completely autonomous vehicle without the need for a driver to be available at a moments notice to take over. I do not believe it will even be LEGAL beyond testing - until such systems show far more than they can now. Currently - there is still no state that does not required the availability of a driver just in case - and unless they allow otherwise - full autonomy simply will not happen.I also suspect that Full autonomy will not happen in city streets until well after they have successfully used it in Interstate Highways where conditions are more predictable. Cars without steering wheels and Brake Pedals will not be more than concepts probably for the rest of MY lifetime.

But - as I have said before - it is the INSURANCE industry that will determine how this will play out - and who will be responsible for problems. IF the insurance industry is at all unhappy with the level of control of the systems - the resulting cost of insurance to USE such vehicles will be beyond the ability of most to pay for it. ANd even if they are somewhat happy - several major test cases in accidents could change that quickly-imagine getting a month policy ten times what the first six months cost!

You are very incorrect unless you are not planning to make it to next year. Waymo already has a driverless service that is scheduled to launch at the end of THIS year, no safety driver. In California driverless cars that pass the required tests are allowed with an emergency remote driver (someone that can jump in like playing a video game). Over the next 2 years, the changeover is going to happen very rapidly.

Insurance costs will be less with self-driving cars, much less.

Of course it's the driver's fault. Because what they call an autopilot system requires driver attention all the time. We peasants might think autopilot means what it sounds like. But who would argue with the great Musk's abuse of the term?
Meanwhile: Flawed (let's say) as human drivers are, most tech is only good enough. Which is to say: Why would anyone think actual autopilot systems cumulatively be safer than human driven vehicles? Seriously. I'm familiar enough with the supporting hype, but are there corroborating facts yet?