703

Not just any woman. A high profile CEO of a major corporation.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Chao

Tesla design choices contributed to her death.

She was using the touch screen for 3 point turn. Touch screen doesn’t give you muscle memory if the car is in reverse or drive.

Submerged in a pond, her electric door release may have malfunctioned. In panic, she probably didn’t know or forgot about manual release.

Flushed door handles would have prevented her friends who dived in from opening the door.

I know Tesla fans will jump out defending these design choices yada yada ya.

asj2024

Opening the door against water pressure would have been difficult I think. She'd have to wait until pressure equalizes as car fills up. It's worrying that cars today mostly have no manual window openers.

Cramming everything into screen without physical alternatives can also save manufacturer money I think. Less parts to add to vehicle. Still stupid though.

geko29

BMW's is also hands-free. As long as you remain attentive, you can easily go 20-30 minutes or even more without ever touching the wheel.

Toys4RJill

Opening the door against water would have been impossible unless the entire interior was completely full of water.

geko29

Yep. If you're really strong and have a fast reaction time, you can still open it while there's only 1-2" of coverage at the bottom of the door. But once it's much higher than that, no choice but to wait.

Mike728

Not quite what it's made out to be.

"During the analyzed period, Tesla drivers had 23.54 accidents per 1,000 drivers on a countrywide level, followed by Ram with 22.76 accidents and Subaru with 20.90 accidents. That said, we need to remember that these numbers come from insurance quotes, not service data. A driver who has an accident on his record from when he owned a Ford bought a Tesla and is looking to get insurance, hence the number of Tesla drivers that have been in an accident increases."

https://insideevs.com/news/702055/te...-probably-not/

asj2024

So I read some more, and as expected the marketing bs is the problem. This is likely one reason why Teslas are involved in so many accidents. The company itself and idiot drivers who believe the hype. Which then leads to deaths, expensive repairs, or the junking of the car itself if the battery is damaged.

Sold by other car bands using language like “adaptive cruise control,” Tesla’s “full self driving” is actually a driving assist feature, and legally, drivers are still required to be paying attention to the task at hand, and control the vehicle when needed. Unfortunately, there have been a number of reported accidents where Tesla drivers were literally asleep at the wheel, or otherwise distracted. Those critical of Tesla say the company’s language misrepresented the capabilities of the car, and lulled drivers into thinking they could focus on things other than driving while their vehicles took control.

Indeed, such is the magnitude of the problem that Tesla is recalling nearly 2 million vehicles to update the Autosteer function of its Autopilot software – nearly every vehicle it has sold in the United States. In a statement, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says, "in certain circumstances when Autosteer is engaged, the prominence and scope of the feature's controls may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse” of the driver-assistance features

https://www.greencars.com/expert-ins...y-brand-report

Mike728

That was the SW update I referred to earlier in this thread. That should take care of the issue with people sleeping, as it warns you if you take your eyes off the road for just a couple seconds. I think it's funny that they had to send out a recall letter, for an OTA SW update.

Striker223

Do the Tesla have good eye tracking? What is the solution if people find a way to bypass it like the stupid wheel weight things?

Allen K

iTrader: (4)

You can't stop stupid people from doing stupid things. If we're going to protect people from themselves, should we also lower the max speed of cars?

Mike728

The driver facing camera seems to work really well, in a creepy kind of way. I don't know if there's a way to trick it, but you can cover it and just not use autopilot. I think the latest update also made it harder to trick the steering wheel sensors. I just change the audio volume up and down a notch to make it happy. It's really all just about ensuring that the driver is paying attention.

TripleL

Results are not too surprising given where we are in the development of this new product.

Allen K

iTrader: (4)

@FrankReynoldsCPA updating the thread title to specify that the test was related to the safeguards associated with the systems and not the systems as a whole

asj2024

I think deliberately fostering marketing bs to people (like the use of the words "full self driving" and "autopilot") in order to feed the hype and thus create major safety issues is not only irresponsible but dangerous.

Allen K

iTrader: (4)

My old 3P with FSD drove me from NJ to DE with no interventions minus the occasional wiggle of the steering wheel and a stop to charge.