Photo: Tesla Motors
Those of you who have been following the series of Tesla Autopilot-related crashes will probably remember that about a month ago, right about the time when he said he would not disable the semi-autonomous feature, Elon Musk promised his company would do more to educate its clients on the proper use of this function.
It would appear the positive methods did not pay off because Tesla is now preparing a more punitive one. While we're still waiting for the so-called Autopilot 2.0 to break cover with its improved hardware equipment, a new software update - the 8.0 version - is expected to hit the Tesla EVs all around the world.
Among the various upgrades it brings, Electrek has found out it will also include a pretty significant restriction. At this moment, the system is programmed to issue visual and audible reminders to the driver to apply pressure on the steering wheel as a sign that they're still present and ready to take over at any time. If the warnings are ignored for more than 15 seconds, the Autopilot will disengage following a "graceful abort procedure."
After the v8.0 software update is installed, these alerts will gain extra weight as repeatedly ignoring them will not only result in the disengagement of the Autopilot, but also the inability of re-engaging it immediately after.
Instead, the driver will need to come to a complete stop and put the car in Park before it becomes available again. Tesla hopes that this measure will deter its clients that want to use the Autopilot from misusing this feature, thus decreasing the chances of a crash.
Whether this will succeed in reducing the number of traffic incidents involving Autopilot driven cars remains to be seen, because even though it should be a welcome change, it still doesn't do anything about the fact that the Autopilot might cut off at any moment and require the driver to resume control in less than a second.
Now that they bear more significance, Tesla though making the alerts less frequent would be a good idea despite the fact that the Autopilot had the most lax attitude to begin with compared to similar systems from other brands.
Among the various upgrades it brings, Electrek has found out it will also include a pretty significant restriction. At this moment, the system is programmed to issue visual and audible reminders to the driver to apply pressure on the steering wheel as a sign that they're still present and ready to take over at any time. If the warnings are ignored for more than 15 seconds, the Autopilot will disengage following a "graceful abort procedure."
After the v8.0 software update is installed, these alerts will gain extra weight as repeatedly ignoring them will not only result in the disengagement of the Autopilot, but also the inability of re-engaging it immediately after.
Instead, the driver will need to come to a complete stop and put the car in Park before it becomes available again. Tesla hopes that this measure will deter its clients that want to use the Autopilot from misusing this feature, thus decreasing the chances of a crash.
Whether this will succeed in reducing the number of traffic incidents involving Autopilot driven cars remains to be seen, because even though it should be a welcome change, it still doesn't do anything about the fact that the Autopilot might cut off at any moment and require the driver to resume control in less than a second.
Now that they bear more significance, Tesla though making the alerts less frequent would be a good idea despite the fact that the Autopilot had the most lax attitude to begin with compared to similar systems from other brands.
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