Horrible Tesla fatal crash blamed on . . .

Source: Tesla employee in fiery crash may be first ‘Full Self-Driving’ death - Washington Post

Hans von Ohain and Erik Rossiter were on their way to play golf one afternoon in 2022 when von Ohain’s Tesla suddenly swerved off Upper Bear Creek Road. The car’s driver-assistance software, Full Self-Driving, was struggling to navigate the mountain curves, forcing von Ohain repeatedly to yank it back on course.
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Rossiter, who survived the crash, told emergency responders that von Ohain was using an “auto-drive feature on the Tesla” that “just ran straight off the road,”
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Von Ohain and Rossiter had been drinking, and an autopsy found that von Ohain died with a blood alcohol level of 0.26 — more than three times the legal limit — a level of intoxication that would have hampered his ability to maintain control of the car, experts said. Still, an investigation by the Colorado State Patrol went beyond drunken driving, seeking to understand what role the Tesla software may have played in the crash.

The question is critical as automakers race toward the promise of a driverless future. For private vehicles, that day is far from here. But critics say features like Full Self-Driving already are giving drivers a false sense of confidence about taking their eyes off the road — or getting behind the wheel after drinking — evincing the dangers of letting consumers test an evolving, experimental technology on the open road.
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At the same time, Tesla user manuals cite a long list of conditions under which Full Self-Driving may not function properly, including narrow roads with oncoming cars and curvy roads. The company has long maintained that drivers must control their cars and that Tesla is not liable for distracted or drunken driving.
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At the time, Tesla had just introduced Full Self-Driving, and would eventually release it to a wider group of owners who had been monitored by the carmaker and declared safe drivers. Like many Tesla employees, von Ohain received the feature — then a $10,000 option — free with his employee discount, according to Bass and a purchase order reviewed by The Post.
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I bought Full Self Driving for $6000 in October 2019. Regardless, I got an update the end of December 2023 and am waiting on the full, AI stack in version 12. The current version nags like a back-seat, mother in law. Hopefully V 12 will sedate her.

Bob Wilson

 

Last year, it was run in one market, West coast. No need to show it in low Tesla states.

Curious he seems OK with Cruse and Waymo. They need his magical software skills.

Bob Wilson

 

AutoPilot has been standard on Tesla since about a year after I got my 2019. It is a better driver than I am . . . never tired, never drinks, and keeps getting better as my body ages out. I also have FSD which shares the more advanced characteristics as AutoPilot.

One irony is that a Tesla critic, O'Dowd and the Dawn Project, can't see demonstrated defects in Cruise and Waymo:

Bob Wilson

 

Today's version 11 is not ready. Better than earlier versions but still too much nagging and multi-lane left turns remain unpleasant. It is easier to manually drive left turns.

Bob Wilson

 

Yes. Each FSD release has shown improvements. Fewer nags would be a blessing.

Bob Wilson