Tesla 'hustled' to develop Autopilot after fatal crash

Woman driving Tesla Model S electric car

(Paradigm credit: Kaspars Grinvalds | Shutterstock)

Tesla has ever been quite open with its button to make cars autonomous, to the point where CEO Elon Musk has been a fleck overly optimistic virtually the visitor'south futurity progress.

Simply why has Tesla been so pushy with Autopilot and autonomy? According to Elon Musk information technology'due south the result of an incident involving a Tesla driver falling asleep, which led to the death of a cyclist.

Everything you need to know virtually the Tesla Roadster 2022
Tesla Model South vs Tesla Model X: What's the departure?
Plus: U.Southward. gov't probing Tesla's Autopilot after series of crashes

Reason we hustled so much to get Autopilot V1 out was that someone driving non-Autopilot Tesla fell comatose, crashed & killed cyclist (Tesla driver was uninjured).Driver however sued us saying new auto scent made him fall asleep (sigh). Estimate didn't agree.July 31, 2021

See more than

This scrap of information came out following the story of a Norwegian Tesla possessor who was defenseless driving drunk, and falling asleep behind the bike. Plainly Autopilot recognised that he wasn't paying attention to the road, and brought the car to a consummate stop.

According to Musk, a similar sort of story is the reason why the automaker pushed so hard to become the first version of Autopilot out to Tesla customers. In that instance a driver fell asleep at the wheel, crashed and killed a cyclist in the process.

While information technology'south not clear what caused the driver to autumn asleep at the bicycle, the commuter later filed a lawsuit claiming that the new car olfactory property made him fall comatose. Unsurprisingly, that lawsuit was non successful.

Autopilot somewhen launched in October of 2014, and has steadily been upgraded and improved over the years. It's still not complete commuter autonomy, simply it is a tool designed to assistance drivers — and ideally make their journeys easier and safer.

Of course, the system is non without its criticism. The proper noun 'Autopilot' has been defendant of beingness misleading since it's not completely autonomous. Musk has doggedly defended information technology since it'southward based on the aircraft autopilot systems that are as well non completely autonomous.

Tesla has also faced criticism over safety concerns, and recently that was leveled at the fact the company is using its drivers as unqualified rubber testers rather than doing everything in private with qualified personnel. Tesla'due south Model 3 and Model Y too lost their IIHS safe ratings afterwards dropping radar from Autopilot systems, though both cars have since regained that certification.

Only if what Musk says is true, so it shows that Tesla's heart is in the correct place. While Autopilot has been involved in some high profile crashes, there are e'er going to be instances where the organization prevented some sort of disaster and the majority of the states will never know. Which can simply be a proficient matter.

More than: What we know about the Tesla Cybertruck

Tom is the Tom's Guide's Automotive Editor, which means he tin can usually be found articulatio genus deep in stats the latest and best electric cars, or checking out some sort of driving gadget. Information technology's long way from his days equally editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the tabular array. He'due south usually institute trying to squeeze another giant Lego prepare onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining that Ikea won't allow him buy the stuff he really needs online.