Tesla Autopilot Trust Worthiness

In recent news, ABC news reported that yet another accident occurred while the Tesla Model X was on autopilot. The driver of the car was on their way to work last week when his Tesla collided with a median barrier (Cook, 2018).

According to Tesla the severity of the accident was due to the barrier, which had not previously been repaired due to a prior accident. Tesla went on to say that if the attenuator, which is a highway safety barrier, that is designed to reduce the impact into a concrete lane divider, that the crash would not have been as severe. According to Tesla this level of damage to a Model X is the highest ever seen from any prior accidents (Cook, 2018).

A similar crash occurred back in May 2016 when the drivers Tesla crashed into a tractor-trailer in Florida. The Autopilot feature was active, but the driver failed to take control of the car and the Autopilot di not brake to avoid the collision (McFarland, 2017).
Since then Tesla has been under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board for allowing Autopilot to be activated on roads the software cannot handle. The Autopilot still requires drivers to be engaged. Although the Autopilot Monitors wheel torque, and the driver can have one hand on the wheel without fully paying attention to the road (McFarland, 2017)

Tesla stated that they would continue to be extremely clear with their current customers and potential customers about the Autopilot features. Explaining how the software is not an entirely self-driving technology and that the drivers will still need to remain attentive at all times (McFarland, 2017).

As technology advance in our world, it is safe to say that we lead by trial and error? As consumers do we continue to put our trust in technology and all the advancements? When do we draw the line as to how far we as consumers allow to technology and engineers control our lives?

References:

Cook, Jeffrey (2018). NTSB ‘Unhappy’ With Tesla Over Crash Disclosures. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/US/ntsb-unhappy-tesla-crash-disclosures/story?id=54174923

McFarland, Matt. (2017). Federal Probe Finds Tesla’s Autopilot Contributed to Fatal Crash. CNN Tech. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/12/technology/future/ntsb-tesla-autopilot/index.html