I always see this framed as between Tesla and the driver of whatever vehicle has crashed. That framing is irresponsible and should stop.
When a Tesla owner chooses to use autopilot, it has a potential impact on other drivers and pedestrians around them - not just driver. Part of the reason we have regulations about seatbelts and airbags isn't just that they keep passengers safe its that they make crashes safer for others on the roads. With a human driver, others are on the same page and can do things like make eye contact or assess the behavior of another driver. In an accident, they can hold that driver responsible. It is not other drivers nor pedestrians role to accept the risk for a Tesla driver wh omay or may not understand the specific nuances of a specific software patch. Thats why we regulate vehicles and license drivers. As a society we choose to do that because the organizations that do so are an enormous efficienty and capability improvement in assessment as compared to asking each individual driver to do the same.
I don't really want to make this political but frankly the seeming lack of understanding strikes me as very software/app/tech mindset and very much a product of the intermingled libertarian leanings. Cars are not software.
Software is also not software (in this framing). I think the Facebook elections fiasco has shown that even something as innocuous as social media has consequences beyond the strictly user<->company relationship.
When a Tesla owner chooses to use autopilot, it has a potential impact on other drivers and pedestrians around them - not just driver. Part of the reason we have regulations about seatbelts and airbags isn't just that they keep passengers safe its that they make crashes safer for others on the roads. With a human driver, others are on the same page and can do things like make eye contact or assess the behavior of another driver. In an accident, they can hold that driver responsible. It is not other drivers nor pedestrians role to accept the risk for a Tesla driver wh omay or may not understand the specific nuances of a specific software patch. Thats why we regulate vehicles and license drivers. As a society we choose to do that because the organizations that do so are an enormous efficienty and capability improvement in assessment as compared to asking each individual driver to do the same.
I don't really want to make this political but frankly the seeming lack of understanding strikes me as very software/app/tech mindset and very much a product of the intermingled libertarian leanings. Cars are not software.