It isn't just his SpaceX rockets that crash. Far-right anti-Semitic megalomaniac Elon Musk's electric vehicle company Tesla is recalling 2 million of its cars due to "insufficient" autopilot safety controls. It covers nearly all Teslas sold in the U.S. The WaPo reports this morning:
"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Tesla’s method of ensuring drivers are still paying attention while the partially automated system is activated is 'insufficient.'
The recall comes after a years-long investigation into crashes while the Autopilot system was activated.
'There may be an increased risk of a crash,' the agency wrote, in some situations when the system is engaged “and the driver does not maintain responsibility for vehicle operation and is unprepared to intervene as necessary or fails to recognize when Autosteer is canceled or not engaged.” (our emphasis)
The cars will be modified with new software that will presumably fix the autopilot controls. The NHTSA will monitor and test the fixes to ensure reliability and hopefully avoid additional crashes and deaths:
"On Sunday, a report by The Washington Post revealed at least eight fatal or serious wrecks involving Tesla Autopilot on roads where the driver assistance software could not reliably operate, according to an analysis of two federal databases, legal records and other public documents.
In user manuals, legal documents and communications with federal regulators, Tesla has acknowledged that Autosteer, Autopilot’s key feature, is 'intended for use on controlled-access highways' with 'a center divider, clear lane markings, and no cross traffic.'” (our emphasis)
In other words, Tesla's autopilot system wasn't meant for normal highway driving. Genius!
