Crisis Management, Exercise Design, Resiliency & Pandemic Planning. Consultant, Author & Speaker, Mentor Respect Science - Respect Nature - Respect Each Other @reginaphelps.bsky.social
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#tesla This should give you pause. A tech writer, who lives in my City, got his update and this was his experience in his words. Last weekend, my Tesla Model Y received an over-the-air update to make its driver-assistance software safer. In my first test drive of the updated Tesla, it blew through two stop signs without even slowing down. In December, Tesla issued its largest-ever recall, affecting almost all of its 2 million cars. It is like the software updates you get on your phone, except this was supposed to prevent drivers from misusing Tesla’s Autopilot software. After testing my Tesla update, I don’t feel much safer — and neither should you, knowing that this technology is on the same roads you use. During my drive, the updated Tesla steered itself on urban San Francisco streets Autopilot wasn’t designed for. (I was careful to let the tech do its thing only when my hands were hovering by the wheel and I was paying attention.) The recall was supposed to force drivers to pay more attention while using Autopilot by sensing hands on the steering wheel and checking for eyes on the road. Yet my car drove through the city with my hands off the wheel for stretches of a minute or more. I could even activate Autopilot after I placed a sticker over the car’s interior camera used to track my attention. The underlying issue is that while a government investigation prompted the recall, Tesla got to drive what went into the software update — and it appears not to want to alienate some customers by imposing new limits on its tech. It’s a warning about how unprepared we are for an era where vehicles can seem a lot more like smartphones, but are still 4,000-pound speed machines that require a different level of scrutiny and transparency. I found we have every reason to be skeptical this recall does much of anything. Yikes!