Tesla owner arrested after being caught ‘backseat driving’

[Carsinmyblood]

..... and Darwin smiles.

There will be a law soon that will allow a judge to order that the car's driver assist systems be disabled until it's sold to another driver.

Soon after, this silly and sometimes deadly experiment will meet it's final demise. Good riddance.

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[All Hat No Cattle]

Bay Area man charged with reckless Tesla stunt was once declared 'the most spoiled kid in the US'

There is nothing inherently wrong with being "spoiled".

But this guy's problem is that he is also gullible and stupid.

Because he believed what the great TechnoKing Elon Musk said.

Really, can you believe anything that the CEO of a company says, after he officially declares himself with the title of company Technoking?

In a SEC filing this month, Elon Musk gave himself a new title: “TechnoKing of Tesla.” In the same filing, he dubbed the company’s CFO Zach Kirkhorn “Master of Coin.”

I will say that if suddenly Ford CEO Jim Farley announced that he was the TechnoKing of Ford, because he introduced the MME, I would reevaluate my stock ownership of Ford.

 

[MachE1977]

This kid has mental health issues. Got out of jail, bought another Model 3 and pulled the same stunt. Look at the interview, he should have his license revoked.

 

[MachE1977]

In related news, NHTSA is investigating another fatal Tesla crash.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/12/nhtsa-investigating-fatal-tesla-crash-in-southern-california.html

It was found Autopilot was on. At this point Tesla should just disable all Autopilot features and Full-Self Driving. Just regular cruise control. When people abuse cruise control, disable that too. It's getting out of hand. I've never seen a company with so many issues and they don't care. It's obvious they need to be involved in peoples everyday driving. Enable the in cabin camera to make sure people are paying attention, talk to them through the in cabin speaker if they take their eyes off the road. If they continue disable everything that involves Autopilot. If all else fails take their car away. Something must be done!

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/...crash-was-on-autopilot-officials-say/2595977/

Just leave the car building to the Big 3 and provide them with batteries/SC Network.

 

[theo1000]

It was found Autopilot was on. At this point Tesla should just disable all Autopilot features and Full-Self Driving. Just regular cruise control. When people abuse cruise control, disable that too. It's getting out of hand.

Except I havn't seen any great demonstration of self driving here. My Etron can do pretty close to what is demonstrated, lane keeping and traffic following, esp. slow speeds and on lane controlled highway. I would have to defeat the capacitive steering though which would be hard. And I would want to risk my car and other people to do this. And there are plenty of other cars that can do a version of this if the monitoring systems are defeated.

No TSLA is deliberate about doing all of this because they want to put the idea out there that they are a software company and no one else can do what they do. Almost all of their $500 Billion valuation is based on the idea that their software will sell like hotcakes.

Its the same reason they can't stop selling FSD even if it is Level 2 and never gets delivered and to be honest has only earned them $2-$3 Billion. The idea that they have some great software is the entire market valuation they are are clinging to.

No they are never going to shut this off as it is the hot air that pumps up the market valuation. They probably like these sorts of individual demonstrations and the occasional TSLA driver caught sleeping in his car, no matter if every so often those fools end up crashing and burning to death. It sells a story, free PR, that backs up the stock price.

 

[Billyk24]

To end this practice, for every such accident, they should put Elon on a back seat of any Tesla and let the car drive itself for 30 mins on a randomly chosen road. Then Tesla will fix this "feature" in no time.

. Then Tesla will fix this "feature" in no time.---Tesla does not have the capability to meet level 3 of autonomics driving via emails between the California DOT and Tesla early in 2021. The terms AutoPilot and Full Self Driving have been banned in Europe. This is a cash cow for the company.

 

[All Hat No Cattle]

Well, my wife says I am spoiled, by her. Maybe. So is she, by me.

But that does not make us stupid or gullible, like the subject of this thread.

 

[DBC]

The question is further muddled by how different people define autopilot. It has at least two parts. So one person could say it's OFF and another could say it's ON and both could be right.

The larger and most salient point is that Tesla has marketed a system as being self-driving which isn't, encouraging a host of idiots to do unsafe things, and hasn't addressed its misleading marketing or moved to prevent people from doing stupid things.

I believe Mercedes Benz had a "self driving" system, which wasn't self driving, and they shut it down because it was easily defeated (IIRC you could tape a soda can to the steering wheel).

Now if someone is going to be a complete idiot and kills themselves that's regrettable but there is only so much you can do. The problem is when they start killing innocent people who haven't chosen to participate in the stupidity. Tesla needs to fix AP or kill it. I doubt it will do this, because, having drunk their own Kool-Aid, people at Tesla believe, against all evidence to the contrary, that they are on the verge of delivering a self-driving vehicle. (Plus they've charged people $10K for vaporware so killing it would also raise some financial issues).

 

[All Hat No Cattle]

https://www.foxnews.com/auto/california-police-arrest-backseat-tesla-driver



A man who was spotted riding in the backseat of a Tesla Model 3 with its partially automated driving feature apparently engaged was arrested on Monday after fellow motorists alerted the police.

(CHP)
The California Highway Patrol reported that 25-year-old Param Sharma was taken into custody when an officer at the Bay Bridge toll plaza in Oakland saw the car pass by without anyone in the driver's seat.

According to the report, the officer witnessed Sharma get into the driver's seat and bring the vehicle to a stop. The vehicle was towed and Sharma was taken into custody and charged with reckless driving and disobeying an officer.



The CHP said Sharma had previously been cited on April 27 for similar behavior and that video of someone resembling him riding in the back of a Model 3 with no one visible in the driver's seat had been posted to social media.

Sharma told KTVU that he spent the night in jail and that after he was released on Tuesday night he rode home in the back seat of a friend's Tesla with no one sitting in the front seat.


"I’ve been brake-checked before really hard, and the car stopped. The car came to a complete stop. Elon Musk really knows what he’s doing and I think people are tripping and they're scared," Sharma said.

The latest version of Tesla's Full Self-Driving feature is capable of driving a vehicle in many conditions and following navigation instructions, but requires someone to be buckled into the front seat and occasionally touching the steering wheel to prove they are paying attention, or else it will disengage.


Some Tesla owners have used weights attached to the steering wheel that mimic a driver's hand to beat the system, the latter procedure recently demonstrated by Consumer Reports. It is not clear if such a device was present in the car in the video.

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Tesla's less-capable Autopilot feature has been connected to several fatal accidents involving drivers who were apparently relying too heavily on it and not paying proper attention to the road. The National Transportation Safety Board has called on the automaker to enact stronger safeguards on the operation of its driver aids to prevent similar situations.


Sharma is scheduled to appear in court on July 6 and told KTVU that he has every intention of continuing to ride in the back seat, and said that by next year everyone will be doing the same.

That is Post #1 above.

Above all, let us not forget that this clown did what Tesla, Musk, and some Teslaniacs, said absolutely, positively can not be done.

Even with multiple videos showing this clown was doing it regularly, and getting arrested for it.

And Consumer Reports and others proving on video that it can be done.

https://www.consumerreports.org/aut...tesla-will-drive-with-no-one-in-drivers-seat/

CR Engineers Show a Tesla Will Drive With No One in the Driver's Seat

After a fatal crash in Texas, we demonstrated how easy it is to defeat Autopilot’s driver monitoring

By Keith Barry

April 22, 2021

Anyone want to bet that he will not claim that Musk said he could do it, when he is in front of a judge.

 

[trutolife27]

Crash victim had posted videos riding in Tesla on Autopilot

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Tesla Crash Autopilot
FILE - In this March 23, 2018, file photo provided by KTVU, emergency personnel work a the scene where a Tesla electric SUV crashed into a barrier on U.S. Highway 101 in Mountain View, Calif. The Apple engineer who died when his Tesla Model X crashed into the concrete barrier complained before his death that the SUV's Autopilot system would malfunction in the area where the crash happened. The driver of another Tesla involved in a fatal crash that California highway authorities said may have been on operating on Autopilot posted social media videos of himself riding in the vehicle without his hands on the wheel or foot on the pedal. The May 5, 2021, crash in Fontana, a city 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, is also under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The probe is the 29th case involving a Tesla that the federal agency has probed. (KTVU-TV via AP, File)



LOS ANGELES (AP) — The driver of a Tesla involved in a fatal crash that California highway authorities said may have been on operating on Autopilot posted social media videos of himself riding in the vehicle without his hands on the wheel or foot on the pedal.
The May 5 crash in Fontana, a city 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, is also under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The probe is the 29th case involving a Tesla that the federal agency has probed.
In the Fontana crash, a 35-year-old man identified as Steven Michael Hendrickson was killed when his Tesla Model 3 struck an overturned semi on a freeway about 2:30 a.m.
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Hendrickson was member of the Southern California chapter of a Tesla club who posted numerous photos and video on social media of his white Model 3. One video on his Instagram account showed him riding in the driver’s seat without his hands on the wheel or foot on the pedal as the Tesla navigated freeway traffic. The video included the comment: “Best carpool buddy possible even takes the boring traffic for me.”
A GoFundMe page set up to raise money for his funeral and memorial service says Hendrickson was survived by his wife and two children. A message seeking comment from his wife has not been returned.
“Every time we spoke to him, he would light up talking about his kids and loved his Tesla,” Tesla Club-SoCal posted on Instagram. “He was truly an amazing human being and will be missed!
Another man was seriously injured when the electric vehicle hit him as he was helping the semi’s driver out of the wreck.

The CHP announced Thursday that its preliminary investigation had determined that the Tesla’s partially automated driving system called Autopilot “was engaged” prior to the crash. The agency said it was commenting on the Fontana crash because of the “high level of interest” about Tesla crashes and because it was “an opportunity to remind the public that driving is a complex task that requires a driver’s full attention.”

However on Friday, the agency walked back its previous declaration.
“To clarify,” a new CHP statement said, “There has not been a final determination made as to what driving mode the Tesla was in or if it was a contributing factor to the crash.”
At least three people have died in previous U.S. crashes involving Autopilot, which can keep a car centered in its lane and a safe distance behind vehicles in front of it. Tesla is allowing a limited number of owners to test its self-driving system.

Tesla, which has disbanded its public relations department, did not respond Friday to an email seeking comment. The company says in owner’s manuals and on its website that both Autopilot and “Full Self-Driving” are not fully autonomous and that drivers must pay attention and be ready to intervene at any time.
Autopilot at times has had trouble dealing with stationary objects and traffic crossing in front of Teslas.
In two Florida crashes, from 2016 and 2019, cars with Autopilot in use drove beneath crossing tractor-trailers, killing the men driving the Teslas. In a 2018 crash in Mountain View, California, an Apple engineer driving on Autopilot was killed when his Tesla struck a highway barrier.
Tesla’s system, which uses cameras, radar and short-range sonar, also has trouble handling stopped emergency vehicles. Teslas have struck several firetrucks and police vehicles that were stopped on freeways with their flashing emergency lights on.

After the Florida and California fatal crashes, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that Tesla develop a stronger system to ensure drivers are paying attention, and that it limit use of Autopilot to highways where it can work effectively. Neither Tesla nor the safety agency took action.
In a Feb. 1 letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt urged the department to enact regulations governing driver-assist systems such as Autopilot, as well as testing of autonomous vehicles. NHTSA has relied mainly on voluntary guidelines for the vehicles, taking a hands-off approach so it won’t hinder development of new safety technology.
Sumwalt said that Tesla is using people who have bought the cars to test “Full Self-Driving” software on public roads with limited oversight or reporting requirements.

“Because NHTSA has put in place no requirements, manufacturers can operate and test vehicles virtually anywhere, even if the location exceeds the AV (autonomous vehicle) control system’s limitations,” Sumwalt wrote.

He added: “Although Tesla includes a disclaimer that ‘currently enabled features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous,’ NHTSA’s hands-off approach to oversight of AV testing poses a potential risk to motorists and other road users.”
NHTSA, which has authority to regulate automated driving systems and seek recalls if necessary, seems to have developed a renewed interest in the systems since President Joe Biden took office.

 

[MachE1977]

I agree Tesla needs to take the "Self Driving" part out.....it's obvious we are not as smart and lack the common sense to understand.

 

[IL_Vet]

On that statement alone, he should have his driving privileges revoked for at least a year or more.

Agreed. The FSD technology isn't foolproof yet. It's sad that this jerk is being reckless in such a populated area. But, Tesla MUST step up and squelch this stupidity.

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