Senators declare FSD deceptive/misleading.

[2101Guy]

“Tesla’s marketing has repeatedly overstated the capabilities of its vehicles, and these statements increasingly pose a threat to motorists and other users of the road,....”


“Accordingly, we urge you to open an investigation into potentially deceptive and unfair practices in Tesla’s advertising and marketing of its driving automation systems and take appropriate enforcement action to ensure the safety of all drivers on the road.”

“Tesla and Musk’s repeated overstatements of their vehicle’s capabilities – despite clear and frequent warnings – demonstrate a deeply concerning disregard for the safety of those on the road and require real accountability,”

Senators call for FTC investigation of Tesla’s Autopilot feature

Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) are calling on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Tesla’s marketing of a partially assisted driving feature known as Autopi…

thehill.com

 

[2101Guy]

One correction.. should replace "Tesla's marketing with "Tesla's CEO.." in the statements above.

 

[2101Guy]

"At least 11 people have died in crashes with Autopilot activated since the feature was released in 2015."

Could have sworn some one in this forum claimed "there have been zero deaths when AP was enabled".. well guess what...

 

[ATPMSD]

There have been a lot of AP crashes and a lot of confirmed crashes where people purposely defeated the safety systems, such as:

“One was in the passenger seat and one was in the back seat”

So at this point I am not away of any confirmed crashes in the which the AP was being used as intended, at least not yet. So while I tend to agree with this Senator, the “11 people have died…” is typical political rhetoric.

 

[EVNow]

"At least 11 people have died in crashes with Autopilot activated since the feature was released in 2015."

Could have sworn some one in this forum claimed "there have been zero deaths when AP was enabled".. well guess what...

How many people have died when cruise control was on in all the cars ?

 

[Daniel in SD]

How many people have died when cruise control was on in all the cars ?

My only wish is that they force Tesla to include dumb cruise control and publish crash statistics for it. They should also publish the TACC only statistics.

 

[2101Guy]

Interesting that its only Tesla they are focusing on. Arent the CEO's (excuse me, Marketing teams) of the other carmakers that have TACC or their versions of self driving, also tweeting out their own deceptive statements that overstate the capabilities of their products? Or is it just Elon..

 

[nvx1977]

The linked article was published Aug 2021. Wonder if any action came from it.

 

[2101Guy]

The linked article was published Aug 2021. Wonder if any action came from it.

the latest..

Tesla Autopilot Stirs U.S. Alarm as ‘Disaster Waiting to Happen’

Regulators are scrutinizing Tesla’s driver-assistance system more than ever, pointing to a potential crackdown that could alarm investors and consumers.

www.bloomberg.com

 

[Bouba]

Why is there a general assumption that Tesla owners are some kind of stupid

 

[nvx1977]

the latest..

Tesla Autopilot Stirs U.S. Alarm as ‘Disaster Waiting to Happen’

Regulators are scrutinizing Tesla’s driver-assistance system more than ever, pointing to a potential crackdown that could alarm investors and consumers.

www.bloomberg.com

Looks like a giant recap of already known concerns and actions. No new news from NHTSA.

 

[jabloomf1230]

“Tesla’s marketing has repeatedly overstated the capabilities of its vehicles, and these statements increasingly pose a threat to motorists and other users of the road,....”


“Accordingly, we urge you to open an investigation into potentially deceptive and unfair practices in Tesla’s advertising and marketing of its driving automation systems and take appropriate enforcement action to ensure the safety of all drivers on the road.”

“Tesla and Musk’s repeated overstatements of their vehicle’s capabilities – despite clear and frequent warnings – demonstrate a deeply concerning disregard for the safety of those on the road and require real accountability,”

Senators call for FTC investigation of Tesla’s Autopilot feature

Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) are calling on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Tesla’s marketing of a partially assisted driving feature known as Autopi…

thehill.com

I see that Senator Blumenthal, who gets big contributions from trial lawyers, is still on his anti-Tesla kick. Of course he wouldn't want safer cars.

 

[LowlyOilBurner]

I see that Senator Blumenthal, who gets big contributions from trial lawyers, is still on his anti-Tesla kick. Of course he wouldn't want safer cars.

Markey was also ragging on Tesla about AP a year ago, wanting more legislation ect, ect. GOVERN ME HARDER DADDY…

“Contributions”….lol.

 

[EVNow]

My only wish is that they force Tesla to include dumb cruise control and publish crash statistics for it. They should also publish the TACC only statistics.

My only wish is that they force all other OEMs to include AP/FSD and publish crash statistics for it. They should also publish the TACC only statistics.

 

[drtimhill]

"At least 11 people have died in crashes with Autopilot activated since the feature was released in 2015."

Could have sworn some one in this forum claimed "there have been zero deaths when AP was enabled".. well guess what...

Question 1: How many miles total has Tesla autopilot driven since 2015?
Question 2: How many people are killed in auto accidents when the same number of miles are driven by humans (on the same roads where AP is used)?

Compare the answer to question 2 to 11 (the claimed number of AP deaths), and draw your own conclusions.

 

[azred]

Funny that these Senators are criticizing Tesla for repeated misrepresentations about FSD when many of the first FSD customers from 2016-17 can’t get any communication from Tesla, misleading or otherwise. Just check out the nearly 165 page current thread from those FSD customers who continue to be overlooked and forgotten. (“FSD’s Earliest Adopters Still Waiting”)

They would be thrilled if Tesla communicated with them, probably even if the communication was somewhat inaccurate. But Musk’s refusal to have any internal or external communications staff means all they get is the sound of crickets. The guy who wants to spend $40 bil to chat with Trump doesn’t have time to provide communication with his own customers.

 

[qdeathstar]

“Tesla’s marketing has repeatedly overstated the capabilities of its vehicles, and these statements increasingly pose a threat to motorists and other users of the road,....”


“Accordingly, we urge you to open an investigation into potentially deceptive and unfair practices in Tesla’s advertising and marketing of its driving automation systems and take appropriate enforcement action to ensure the safety of all drivers on the road.”

“Tesla and Musk’s repeated overstatements of their vehicle’s capabilities – despite clear and frequent warnings – demonstrate a deeply concerning disregard for the safety of those on the road and require real accountability,”

Senators call for FTC investigation of Tesla’s Autopilot feature

Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) are calling on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Tesla’s marketing of a partially assisted driving feature known as Autopi…

thehill.com

 

[EVNow]

I see that Senator Blumenthal, who gets big contributions from trial lawyers, is still on his anti-Tesla kick. Of course he wouldn't want safer cars.

That sounds like a conspiracy theory. Lot more likely to be because of some hedge fund masquerading as consumer safety org.

We see a big contribution from Lawyers / Lobbyists .... we don't know how many really trial lawyers are.

ps : Its also interesting to think that $1M is all it takes to have some Senators rail against the richest person on earth. West coast tech companies do very poorly when it comes to lobbying ... Also the reason I only support politicians who don't take corporate / lobbyist money.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal - Connecticut

Fundraising profile for Sen. Richard Blumenthal - Connecticut

www.opensecrets.org

 

[sleepydoc]

Interesting that its only Tesla they are focusing on. Arent the CEO's (excuse me, Marketing teams) of the other carmakers that have TACC or their versions of self driving, also tweeting out their own deceptive statements that overstate the capabilities of their products? Or is it just Elon..

Elon has done a lot for Tesla and for EVs in general. I think it's safe to say the market wouldn't be what it is without him. Unfortunately he also has a penchant for being overly optimistic in a very public fashion which can lead to a target on Tesla's back.

Why is there a general assumption that Tesla owners are some kind of stupid

Well, there have been a number of stupid Tesla owners (people engaging AP and then crawling over to the passenger seat, etc.) Tesla built a smart car but there's always a dumber idiot!

I completely agree with the above posts on getting accurate data for comparisons. I recall one accident a few months ago where a car supposedly crashed on AP. After a bunch of publicity and investigation it finally came out that the car wasn't on autopilot and the driver just crashed like hundreds of other drivers do every day.

 

[SCTes1aMan]

While watching the morning news I just saw a commercial that was showing near-accidents while Teslas were using FSD and at the end, it asked you to tell Congress to "shut it down". I did notice that most of the video clips were a year or older.