Watch: Tesla owner banned, fined after engaging autopilot and leaving driver's seat

[midian182]

Tesla’s Autopilot feature isn’t a fully autonomous system—something the company itself keeps telling people. But that hasn’t stopped some Tesla owners from leaving the driver’s seat and letting their cars control themselves. The latest incident took place in the UK, but unluckily for the driver in question, it was caught on video by a motorist.

In May 2017, Nottingham resident Bhavesh Patel was filmed by a witness in another car as he passed in his Model S. Travelling at 40 mph on the M1 highway, Patel was sat in the passenger seat while the Autopilot did the driving.

Man pleads guilty to dangerous driving after switching on his car's autopilot and moving over to the passenger seat while travelling along the M1 near #HemelHempstead: https://t.co/GrKppSLVZT pic.twitter.com/JPYgk9eyDM

— Herts Police (@HertsPolice) April 27, 2018

The clip was posted on social media before being reported to the police. Patel admitted to officers that what he did was “silly,” but said his car was capable of something “amazing.” While his actions didn’t result in an accident, police said it “was grossly irresponsible and could have easily ended in tragedy.”

"He not only endangered his own life but the lives of other innocent people using the motorway on that day," said PC Kirk Caldicutt from Hertfordshire Police.

The court said Patel was the "unlucky one who got caught," according to the BCC. He was banned from driving for 18 months, ordered to work 100 unpaid hours, has to conduct ten days of rehabilitation, and was fined £1800 (around $2472).

Earlier this month, Tesla said the reason a Model X crashed into a barrier and killed driver Walter Huang in March was because he kept his hands off the wheel despite repeated warnings from the system. Autopilot alerts drivers when it detects they’re not holding the wheel. If the warnings are ignored for a minute, the feature is switched off for the rest of the drive.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/74377-watch-tesla-owner-banned-fined-after-engaging-autopilot.html

 

[Uncle Al]

Personally, I would ban these "partial" systems simply to avoid confusion. The vehicle should be self-driving or not ... no middle ground. There are too many opportunities for confusion from operation to enforcement and this is one area where confusion simply isn't acceptable; for the safety of all!

 

[VitalyT]

If UK is so crazy about it, why not simply impose it on Tesla to deactivate the auto-pilot feature completely for any vehicle sold in UK? Tesla can do this for all existing vehicles through a simple software update.

 

[fps4ever]

It was sold as one of the main features of the car. There is no way they would just turn it off for everyone willingly even if they wanted to. Having a country legally tell them they have to do it is another story. That would give them an out. It's about the almighty dollar...

 

[Jeff Re]

It's too bad nothing was done about the driver paying more attention to video recording with his phone than driving...

 

[MonsterZero]

Autopilot should literally disengage if the driver has not put his/her hands on the steering wheel after one visible and auditory alert.

Hell, just make the car pull over on the side of the road if they don't respond to the alerts.

Tesla drivers are the new BMW/Audi drivers....

 

[wiyosaya]

Autopilot should literally disengage if the driver has not put his/her hands on the steering wheel after one visible and auditory alert.

Hell, just make the car pull over on the side of the road if they don't respond to the alerts.

Tesla drivers are the new BMW/Audi drivers....

Apparently, it is supposed to do that. However, maybe he fooled the systems somehow?

Anyway, this guy is clearly on something when he says that his car is capable of "amazing".

This just shows that money does not bring along with it brains.

 

[mbrowne5061]

Personally, I would ban these "partial" systems simply to avoid confusion. The vehicle should be self-driving or not ... no middle ground. There are too many opportunities for confusion from operation to enforcement and this is one area where confusion simply isn't acceptable; for the safety of all!

Ok, I agree for the most part in principal, but where do you draw the line for "partial"? Does my cruise control from 2001 that only pays attention to the speed I'm going count? Or what about a more advanced cruise control that uses radar to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of you if they're going 1-2mph slower? What about ABS and other automatic braking systems to avoid skids?

Not trying to be flippant, just the term "partial" still requires definition. I do not like Tesla's autopilot system. I do not think it should be on the road (who gave it it's license to drive?), and its name alone invites stunts and accidents like those mentioned in this article. However, I do think things like radar cruise control, lane drift warning/assists, blind spot sensing, and emergency/ABS braking systems are an overall positive impact on road safety. So, where and how do we draw the definition around this "self driving" valley?

 

[MonsterZero]

This just shows that money does not bring along with it brains.

Quote of the millenium right here.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

So, where and how do we draw the definition around this "self driving" valley?

As far as I'm concerned it is when a vehicle doesn't require a human operator. So, by definition Tesla's system is not self driving.

As far as I'm aware these systems almost entirely rely on optical cameras. Yet there is so much other tech that can be used to detect objects which isn't being used. Optical cameras as far as I'm concerned is inferior to human vision and the brain behind it making decisions based on what is seen. This auto pilot "feature" shouldn't even be in use on public roads as far as I'm concerned.

 

[wiyosaya]

Ok, I agree for the most part in principal, but where do you draw the line for "partial"? Does my cruise control from 2001 that only pays attention to the speed I'm going count? Or what about a more advanced cruise control that uses radar to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of you if they're going 1-2mph slower? What about ABS and other automatic braking systems to avoid skids?

Not trying to be flippant, just the term "partial" still requires definition. I do not like Tesla's autopilot system. I do not think it should be on the road (who gave it it's license to drive?), and its name alone invites stunts and accidents like those mentioned in this article. However, I do think things like radar cruise control, lane drift warning/assists, blind spot sensing, and emergency/ABS braking systems are an overall positive impact on road safety. So, where and how do we draw the definition around this "self driving" valley?

Well, "AutoPilot" is definitely marketing speak - especially since Tesla says, afterwords, of course, that it is not a true autopilot system. Unfortunately, there are those out there that buy into this marketing speak. If you ask me, the FTC or NHSTA or both should yank Telsa into court on this for misleading advertising - at the least.

Perhaps there should be some certification process that autonomous vehicles should go through in order to determine their true auto pilot capabilities.

 

[ChrisH1]

Personally, I would ban these "partial" systems simply to avoid confusion. The vehicle should be self-driving or not ... no middle ground. There are too many opportunities for confusion from operation to enforcement and this is one area where confusion simply isn't acceptable; for the safety of all!

It will be a long, long time before self-driving vehicles are as capable as a human being. You're essentially saying 'never'. An example: should the car be able to read a sign written on cardboard in crayon, being held by a child on the side of the road? Another: should the car be able to see an animal running parallel to the road 20 metres away and intuit it is likely to suddenly dash across the road?

 

[Lounds]

It's too bad nothing was done about the driver paying more attention to video recording with his phone than driving...

It's a UK right hand drive car, so the passenger is recording this...
Well done for ignoring that the article was about a UK driver, so a UK right hand drive car.

 

[ffry444]

Not to give these morons a pass but calling the system "autopilot" might be a bad idea?

 

[mbrowne5061]

As far as I'm concerned it is when a vehicle doesn't require a human operator. So, by definition Tesla's system is not self driving.

As far as I'm aware these systems almost entirely rely on optical cameras. Yet there is so much other tech that can be used to detect objects which isn't being used. Optical cameras as far as I'm concerned is inferior to human vision and the brain behind it making decisions based on what is seen. This auto pilot "feature" shouldn't even be in use on public roads as far as I'm concerned.

The car is capable of driving "without" a human though - there are other videos, aside from this one, that "proves" that. Tesla requires the human to stay in the driver's seat and keep their hands on the wheel because the system isn't reliable enough yet. It can handle highways and all the other cars around, staying in the lane, braking, accelerating, etc, but it can't handle having to change lanes and brake/accelerate to avoid a collision with an unexpected event (getting cut off, animal darting into road, etc)

There is an "uncanny valley" for every autonomous tech out there - AI, human-simulations (hardware or software), self driving cars, etc. Crossing it for each tech will be a monumental challenge.