Self-driving cars sound amazing, but it seems with each release we need only wait a while before the horror stories start rolling in.
First it was Google and their cars, 11 of the 48 tester vehicles being involved in some sort of accident shortly after their release onto the road. Now it’s the turn of Elon Musk and his Tesla cars, with some users saying that the vehicles have tried to steer them off the road. TIME reports:
Owners of Tesla cars that include the new autopilot feature—which has the car’s computer steer, change lanes, and change speed automatically—took to forums to express concern about their driving experiences…
One user [said] the car would repeatedly malfunction. The person added that the car was going down the highway at about 65 MPH when the autopilot feature caused the vehicle to try to “exit at every potential exit when driving in the right lane (not exit exclusive one).”
“That occurred to me a few times as well,” Business Insider reported that another customer wrote. “The mapping over time should improve this.”
As is to be expected, Tesla released a statement to try and soothe the frayed nerves of drivers behind their wheels:
The latest Autopilot release is a hands-on experience to give drivers more confidence behind the wheel, increase their safety on the road, and make highway driving more enjoyable. We expect drivers to keep their hands on the wheel when using Autosteer and maintain responsibility for the car. Over time, there will not be a need for drivers to keep their hands on the wheel, however in the short term it is very important that the driver stay fully engaged.
So the car will drive itself but I must keep my hands on the wheels? I think there’s some way to go before we shout from the rooftops about this one.
Raise your game Elon.
[source:time]
