autoevolution
 

Elon Musk's Wife Demonstrates the Wrong Way of Using Tesla's Autopilot

If you can still remember how our brains worked when we were little, you'll recall that the moment we were told not to do something, we went on and did that exact thing. We didn't think about it - it was just a natural reaction.
Talulah Riley pulling a "look, ma', no hands" 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
We may be all grown up now, but that doesn't mean we don't still do the same thing every once in a while. For instance, what is the first thing we do when testing a semi-autonomous driving mode in a vehicle, even though every screen in the car tells us to keep our hands on the steering wheel? We take them off, obviously, because that's how you test these things.

So even though we're pretty sure this wasn't the first time Elon Musk's wife, Talulah Riley, used the Autopilot feature of her Model X, we can totally understand her doing it. She was fooling around, and that's something made very obvious by the rest of the video - namely, by what she's doing with those two hands after she takes them off the wheel.

However, when you're the wife (well, nobody really knows what their relationship is anymore) of the CEO of the company making that car, you have something called a "moral duty" to play by the rules and behave as an example for others. You know, at least while the film is rolling. When it's not, you can be as dorky as you want, no questions asked.

Which is probably why the video posted on Instagram by her friend riding in the passenger's seat disappeared so quickly off the Internet, but as it so often happens, not quickly enough to erase all trace. So if you need a crash-course in how the Autopilot function wasn't intended to be used, please refer to this footage featuring Tesla CEO's wife, a Model X and a Californian highway. But bear in mind: they do this so you don't have to.

In all honesty, this IS how Elon Musk intended the Autopilot function to be used, but then people started migrating to the back seats while the car was cruising down the highway, so he had to rectify that and ask that hands be kept on the wheel at all times. That ruined half the fun of the experience, but probably saved the company a handful of lawsuits that would have been very bad for business.

If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Vlad Mitrache
Vlad Mitrache profile photo

"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories