But I Was Told I Could Take a Whizz . . .

Last month I posted on issues involving autonomous cars.  The debate continues.  Now a Tesla has had an accident in Beijing, which fortunately involved no injuries, unlike the recent fatality in Florida involving a Tesla.  The owner of the vehicle in Beijing did not have his hands on the steering wheel and claims he was told by sales staff that it was a self-driving car.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-china-crash-idUSKCN10L0P4

Tesla, of course, denies responsibility saying the drivers are told to keep their hands on the wheel at all times and that the "autosteer" or "autopilot" feature, which is what Tesla has apparently been calling it, is only meant as an "assist" feature.  Certainly, I have no doubt that the warnings you have to punch through to enable the autopilot feature say just that, but according to this driver and some others in China, that is not exactly what the sales people were saying. 

We can debate whether this programmer at a tech firm who had the wreck should have known better, but certainly if someone this tech savvy can make such a mistake, imagine how dangerous these features can be for less savvy folk.  And let me add, referring to the feature as "autopilot" or "autosteer" ain't going to lessen the confusion any as many folks will associate autopilot with the feature pilots engage to go take a whizz.  Word to the wise, don't try going to the bathroom in your Tesla by engaging autopilot. At a price tag of around $145,000, however, it should come with a bathroom

This reminds me of a story my father once told me.  He was in the RV industry and they had an incident where one elderly person driving a motorhome engaged the cruise control so he could go back to relieve himself and, as fate would have it, he wrecked.  Or, I guess more accurately, the cruise control wrecked. 

Gee, is it possible folks buying cars  need training on all this new fangled stuff?  Is it possible that an owner's manual and some pop up warnings are not enough for everyone?  Is it possible Tesla is engaging in a marketing disaster by rolling out these vehicles too soon and without proper training?  You decide.

For added reading, here is a piece from Bloomberg where the author praised the autosteer feature of the Tesla he "drove" for eight hours but nonetheless noted a couple of near death situations he only avoided by being at the wheel and attentive.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-10/i-just-drove-8-hours-on-tesla-autopilot-and-lived-to-tell-the-tale

I think I will stick to my stick shift and enjoying the drive for now.