First Tesla Autopilot Crash In China

[Breezy]

Uh huh.

 

[Tam]

Looks like the driver says that Tesla Autopilot translation in Chinese on its web page is a "self automated driving car" and that is the official terminology that Tesla staff from sales to Public Relations have been using:

自动驾驶

Google translates that as "Autopilot"
I do not do Chinese so please correct me:

自 means self

动 means to move

those 2 words together,

自动 means self automation

驾驶 means to drive or fly

Thus, if you understand each word and combine them together in Chinese, it could be misunderstood as self-automated-driving.

Those 4 Chinese words are also the same terminology used for Chinese airplane industry "Autopilot."

I suspect that Chinese has many words that when you combine them into a terminology, they may mean more than a combination of meanings from each word.

Thus, it is still the responsibility of each driver to find out what that special terminology means.

By not learning the definition of a terminology, it is not an excuse to skip reading the manual or ignoring the meaning of mandatory button to accept self responsibility for using a "beta" product at each usage.

 

[Az_Rael]

Looks like this one is now being picked up in the media
Tesla driver in Autopilot accident was using his phone, says Tesla told him it was ‘self-driving’

Full statement form a Tesla spokesperson:

The customer’s dash cam video shows that the Tesla was being driven on a highway in China where a vehicle was parked on the left shoulder straddling the left lane. The Tesla was following closely behind the car in front of it when the lead car moved to the right to avoid hitting the parked car. The driver of the Tesla, whose hands were not detected on the steering wheel, did not steer to avoid the parked car and instead scraped against its side. As clearly communicated to the driver in the vehicle, Autosteer is an assist feature that requires the driver to keep his hands on the steering wheel at all times, to always maintain control and responsibility for the vehicle, and to be prepared to take over at any time.

 

[Topher]

This sort of scenario is exactly what auto-pilot frees you up to notice.

Thank you kindly.

 

[raysspl]

Lots of interesting insights here regarding this AP crash...

 

[Tam]

Thanks to all those who insist that Tesla needs to ditch its terminology "Autopilot."

Looks like Tesla just listened to that cry and it has just abandoned that terminology in its Chinese web page (all other languages still maintain that terminology.)

Google translates it as "Automatic Driver Assistance" in Chinese

自动辅助驾驶

instead of the commonly used Chinese airline industry "Autopilot"

自动驾驶

a few hours ago.

 

[JeffK]

At least one of the news outlets was reporting that he was on the phone at the time of the accident.

Tesla driver in Autopilot accident was using his phone, says Tesla told him it was ‘self-driving’

 

[Breezy]

The title from the local news station is misleading with the word "self-driving" but its contents are correct.

"I would characterize it as the ultimate cruise control," Neally explains about the autopilot.

Look ma! No hands! It's not an atonomous car, but it will stay in its lane, maintain speed, even brake to avoid crashes.

Neally says the car allows him to take his hands off the wheel for up to four minutes at a time. Then the car lets him know he needs to take the wheel at, least briefly, or else it looks for a spot to pull over and stop on the side of the road."

As with any newsheadline, it's a hook for you to get you to find out its content before you can see whether the headline is correct or not.

The tweet and headline are misleading, which is why Elon shouldn't have retweeted it.

This is an obvious case where Tesla has been caught doing what they've been doing all along. Officially it's not self-driving and you must keep your hands on the wheel at all times, but wink-wink yeah, it's okay if you drive while suffering medical distress or otherwise distracted. Totally irresponsible.