[SystemSafety] What Tesla says about its autopilot

[SPRIGGS, John J]

I went to the cinema with my son some time ago to see "Napping Princess", also known as "Ancien and the Magic Tablet".  It is a classic fairy tale with King (CEO), Grand Vizier (Executive Director), Princess, and, of course, autonomous vehicles.  The film contains a line that may be pertinent here, the engineer is talking to one of his Customers and says something like, "At least pretend you are driving, or you will get us all arrested"…

From: systemsafety [mailto:systemsafety-bounces at lists.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de] On Behalf Of Peter Bernard Ladkin
Sent: 04 December 2018 06:18
To: The System Safety List
Subject: [SystemSafety] What Tesla says about its autopilot

A businessman was arrested on DUI after travelling with his Tesla along freeway 101 in the South Bay
(Redwood City and Palo Alto, just north of Silicon Valley) at 70mph on "autopilot".
https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2018/11/30/los-altos-planning-commissioner-arrested-for-tesla-dui<https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2018/11/30/los-altos-planning-commissioner-arrested-for-tesla-dui>

Apparently Tesla is claiming great things for its technology:

[begin quote]
Palo Alto-based Tesla's website states that "all Tesla vehicles produced in our factory, including
Model 3, have the hardware needed for full self-driving capability at a safety level substantially
greater than that of a human driver."
[end quote]

I wonder how they come to that conclusion?

As the article notes, it is not the first time that someone too inebriated to drive legally has
climbed into his Tesla and turned on the autopilot. I doubt the safety claim above takes into
account that people otherwise unable to drive are going to try to do so on "autopilot".

PBL

Prof. Peter Bernard Ladkin, Bielefeld, Germany
MoreInCommon
Je suis Charlie
Tel+msg +49 (0)521 880 7319 www.rvs-bi.de<http://www.rvs-bi.de>

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