My comment to CR at their article, after cancelling my online subscription. I've sort of appreciated their work at times, but they've always seemed to have this unmerited sense of self-importance: _____ The critic invariably assumes criticism of others carries no responsibility for himself. However this is not always the case. For example, 'busybodies' freely voice their opinions about others' problems, and how they should solve them, often causing more harm than good in the process. I see this happening in this article. Consumer Reports self-righteously takes a position of 'moral superiority', and uses its platform of 8 million subscribers to carelessly advocate for the diabling of Tesla's Autopilot, a system that has been shown to avoid serious accidents, even perhaps deaths, while it has not yet been proven to cause any serious harm. Most people are instinctively suspicious of 'moral superiorists', because they most often act like bulls in a chinashop, mindlessly asserting their own self-importance to cause endless difficlties, and even real harm, to others. So I ask this: Given that Tesla, even if it were to disable Autopilot as prescribed by the lofty Consumer Reports, will go on recording the data from its fleet of cars even when Autopilot is not engaged. Is Consumer reports prepared to take full resoponsibilities for the deaths those disabled cars may cause in the future? - dealths that may not have occured if not for this fear-mongering advice by Consumer Reprorts? No. Of course not. What busybody ever believes his advice could be at fault or cause harm?
Why all the commotion? It is not Tesla's fault that someone unfortunately died while on autopilot. At same time, I would feel very uncomfortable seeing in the next lane someone who does not have at least one hand on the wheel. I use autopilot frequently, I like it, but always keep my hands on the wheel. Your next pothole, blown tire, idiot swerving into your lane may quickly make you an organ donor..... Keep your hands on the wheel please. And use autopilot while doing that. We will all live longer.
We have a GMC Yukon with both distance-aware cruise control and lane awareness control. This effectively constitutes the same thing as Tesla's autopilot, with the only difference being that neither is as well executed as the Tesla's version. Why isn't CU suggesting that ALL such systems be prohibited? I've been a very longstanding CU subscriber but am very frustrated by their stance here. I wonder (warning: pure speculation) if they felt the heat from criticism that they gave the Model S a "more than perfect" score and are now overreacting to try and demonstrate their objectivity by going after Tesla repeatedly.
All I'm saying is that if we need to tell people that the hot coffee they just ordered is hot so that they don't sue the provider of said hot coffee if they are not careful with it, we stand little chance of keeping our current autopilot the way it is. Also, if you set the cruise control in your 2002 Honda at 70 mph, and you let your car rear-end a car going 60mph, is the cruise control to blame? Should NHTSA launch an inquiry? There is no warning when you set it...
I do agree with this CR recommendation: "Issue clearer guidance to owners on how the system should be used and its limitations" Most people don't RTFM. Therefore, my suggestion is that the first time a driver with a stored profile tries to enable the Autopilot AutoSteer option, the following should happen: A series of easy to understand, informational screens with drawings, possibly a video, should be presented to the driver, localized to their language of choice. They would describe: What Autopilot is, how to use it, and what it is NOT, e.g. it's limitations. The responsibility of the driver while using Autopilot. Following #1, a short ~10 question multiple-choice touch screen quiz would be presented. If the driver fails #2 because they didn't pay attention to #1, then they have the option of repeating #1 and re-taking #2 with the question order and a/b/c/d answer options randomized so lazy people don't look up the fixed answer key on the 'net. IMHO, if somebody "passes" the above and still doesn't use Autopilot properly, then they shouldn't have a driver's license in the first place, period. To have a level playing field, my suggestion also applies to all of the cancer-causing and global-warming ICE cars, too, such as the "self-driving" E-class, iDrive's etc. etc.
Yeah I watched a 20/20 or something on that once and while it seems like there are a lot of frivolous lawsuits, that one seemed very legitimate.
You are one of many who have said the same thing. Appearances can be a killer to a company. And it appears CR is no longer quite as independent as advertised
When the Segway HT (now PT) was first sold in 2002, buyers had to fly to a city to be professionally trained on its proper use. That policy kept accident rates extremely low. They also trained me to help others to ride, and over 18 months, about 1,000 people got on my Segway HT for a ride without a single incident. Unfortunately, in 2010 the new owner of Segway Inc. most likely wasn't trained with the same quality, and "died after falling from a cliff while riding a Segway PT." Segway PT - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Still a newbie with AP with only 2000 miles driven. I Drive AP with my hands on the wheel, feel that is way safer than driving by myself. AP makes mistakes but those are far fewer than what I would have done.
Riding a Segaway near a cliff? Must be the fault of the Segway. That's how it goes today, blame the inanimate object. 2000 mi. driven? I have driven about 2 miles with AP and consider myself an expert
I'm not sure "likely would have been alive" is correct. Based on the lady who said she was doing 85 and he blew past her, it is entirely possible that the truck pulling out in front would have been hit anyway. It happens to people driving cars without AP. I know because a friend who is a lawyer bought his plane using money from a settlement on such a case.
Car Howard responded to Consumer reports. Clark's take on Tesla's controversial Autopilot feature Be sure to watch the video.
If Consumer Reports had been published in the 1880's, they would have probably called for a ban on light bulbs after the first fire caused by faulty wiring. "Too much electricity too soon"