The nag system will have to change to detecting variable torque (wiggle) on the steering wheel vs the current system of detecting any torque on the steering wheel. That would prevent situations like this and also prevent people from using weights to defeat the nag.
Tesla delivered 350,000 cars last year. That is one driver. The problem is the driver, not the car.
People do fall asleep at the wheel, whether in a Tesla or any other conventional car. The U.S. Department of Transportation attributes 1550 deaths a year to drivers falling asleep. The difference is that the Tesla keeps the car on the roadway, in the driving lane, and it varies speed with traffic. What usually happens when a driver dozes is that within seconds the car leaves the roadway and crashes, often into trees, killing the occupants. Worse is when the car crosses into the opposing lanes and crashes head on killing people in an oncoming car.
I think if I’m to doze off, I’d rather be in the Tesla on autopilot. Don’t get me wrong, it’s criminal and the height of stupidity to sleep while driving, but it does happen, and in this case it seems to me that the Tesla on autopilot has avoided a tragedy. That said, they should throw the book at that driver, heavy fines, impound the car, loss of license, and if up to me, jail time. Still he’s alive. And he didn’t kill that person sleeping in the passenger seat.
I think the headline should be “Driver falls asleep at the wheel, survives due to Tesla’s autopilot”.
