Photo: via GreenTheOnly
Despite new accidents involving Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (some of them fatal – as the EV maker itself regularly discloses), Tesla does not seem to get enough trouble from them. If it were not enough for the company to be under federal investigation for the issues involving them, now Elon Musk promised to get rid of one driver monitoring feature FSD presents. That made the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) demand answers.
One of Musk’s followers asked him to get rid of the “steering wheel nag” on the ADAS system for drivers with more than 10,000 miles using the system. The Tesla CEO said he agreed with that and that an update in January would give these Tesla owners that option. That contradicts everything Musk has been officially stating more recently about FSD.
Despite promising 1 million robotaxis by 2020 and stating that Tesla cars drive themselves in several interviews, the Tesla CEO has tried to deny that lately. Associated Press reminds us that he said that Tesla is not saying that FSD is “quite ready to have no one behind the wheel” in October. The “steering wheel nag” is a way Tesla offered to make sure that happens.
It was more than clear that this verification system was so imperfect that people sold devices on classified ads to trick it. Some owners add weights to the steering wheel in other ways just to avoid having their hands there. That is why Tesla started using the internal camera to monitor driver behavior, but that is also a half-baked solution. Eliminating one of the safeguards to ensure drivers are paying attention to the road is equivalent to stating the cars drive themselves.
Philip Koopman stressed that this is precisely what is happening with Tesla vehicles: they drive themselves, and drivers are blamed for wrongly operating their vehicles whenever something bad happens. Ironically, eliminating the “steering wheel nag” prevents Tesla from using its customers as moral crumple zones. If there is nothing to ensure they are paying attention to the road, who’s to blame: the drivers or the company that suppressed the safeguards?
According to Associated Press, NHTSA asked Tesla for more details about Musk’s tweet. More than that, it also included that tweet into its investigation related to Tesla vehicles on Autopilot crashing against emergency vehicles, which is quite telling. In June 2022, the agency upgraded that investigation to an Engineering Analysis (EA), which is the last step before dismissing the whole thing or turning an issue into a mandatory recall. The question is why Elon Musk decided to throw gasoline in the dumpster fire that Autopilot and FSD currently are with the tweet below. It may have to do with the “move fast and break things” motto Silicon Valley has followed for so long – even if it sounds awful when you are talking about cars.
Despite promising 1 million robotaxis by 2020 and stating that Tesla cars drive themselves in several interviews, the Tesla CEO has tried to deny that lately. Associated Press reminds us that he said that Tesla is not saying that FSD is “quite ready to have no one behind the wheel” in October. The “steering wheel nag” is a way Tesla offered to make sure that happens.
It was more than clear that this verification system was so imperfect that people sold devices on classified ads to trick it. Some owners add weights to the steering wheel in other ways just to avoid having their hands there. That is why Tesla started using the internal camera to monitor driver behavior, but that is also a half-baked solution. Eliminating one of the safeguards to ensure drivers are paying attention to the road is equivalent to stating the cars drive themselves.
Philip Koopman stressed that this is precisely what is happening with Tesla vehicles: they drive themselves, and drivers are blamed for wrongly operating their vehicles whenever something bad happens. Ironically, eliminating the “steering wheel nag” prevents Tesla from using its customers as moral crumple zones. If there is nothing to ensure they are paying attention to the road, who’s to blame: the drivers or the company that suppressed the safeguards?
According to Associated Press, NHTSA asked Tesla for more details about Musk’s tweet. More than that, it also included that tweet into its investigation related to Tesla vehicles on Autopilot crashing against emergency vehicles, which is quite telling. In June 2022, the agency upgraded that investigation to an Engineering Analysis (EA), which is the last step before dismissing the whole thing or turning an issue into a mandatory recall. The question is why Elon Musk decided to throw gasoline in the dumpster fire that Autopilot and FSD currently are with the tweet below. It may have to do with the “move fast and break things” motto Silicon Valley has followed for so long – even if it sounds awful when you are talking about cars.
Agreed, update coming in Jan
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 31, 2022
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