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Tesla Driver Charged With Killing Motorcyclist After Turning on Autopilot and Browsing His Phone

Your Tesla is not a "self driving car" no matter how hard you want to believe it.

The Tesla driver, who told police he was “putting the trust in the machine to drive for him,” was inattentive to the road in front of him, and was only brought back to reality when he “heard a bang as the car lurched forward.” The driver was not impaired by drugs or alcohol, though he admitted to having an alcoholic beverage prior to the 3:54 p.m. crash. Tesla will claim that it isn’t culpable for the incident, as the official line is that its so-called Autopilot and Full Self-Driving software are “intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and are prepared to take over at any moment.” The company and its CEO, however, have knowingly engaged in public discussion describing the cars as “driving themselves” and the people buying these cars believe them. But when it comes to Tesla “beta testing” this half-baked software on our public streets, we don’t get the legal opportunity to challenge it.

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