Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is working on developing self-driving automobiles, and while it isn’t quite there yet, the company has made significant progress so far. The problem is the system isn’t perfect yet and still requires human attention. Unfortunately, some Tesla owners have neglected that fact and as a result, there were two crashes involving Tesla vehicles this past month, both in California.
In both of those instances, the drivers said that the car’s Autopilot feature had been activated and that they weren’t the ones driving. There are many warnings that are built into the Autopilot software, including both visible and audible signals for the driver.
However, it’s clear that Tesla will need to make more of an effort to stop distracted and inattentive drivers.
These risks underscore the dangers with self-driving vehicles as people become too reliant and too trusting of technology. While driver-less technologies may help make driving safer, the problem is that some drivers may take for granted that this is still largely a work-in-progress and that we are still many years away from a truly driver-less experience that requires no human intervention at all.
Despite the advancements that have been made in autonomous vehicles, there is still a long way to go in ensuring that they are safe and don’t put drivers at risk.
What is most encouraging about this is that we aren’t hearing more about these types of crashes, which suggests that the majority of Tesla drivers are not ignoring their responsibilities and are not putting other drivers in danger.
