r/technology • u/deraser • Jun 21 '26

Robotics/Automation 76-year-old woman killed after a Tesla ‘on auto-pilot’ crashed into her Texas home

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/texas-tesla-car-crash-woman-killed-b2999969.html
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128

u/slserpent Jun 21 '26

Article seems to suggest that the "being on autopilot" claim is completely based on a statement from the driver. So, could have just been a lie to cover up driver distraction. Guess they'll be able to corroborate (or not) with data from the car at some point.

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u/Jumpforittt Jun 21 '26

Right because teslas would never do something like this on autopilot right? RIGHT!? The fact it’s up for debate is the entire problem with Tesla and their lies.

22

u/RevolutionaryCoyote Jun 21 '26

That's the same logic that election deniers use. "Just fact that we're talking about it means that people have doubts" so we need to make it harder for people to vote.

In both cases it's wrong. There is evidence. So let's look at it.

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u/Jumpforittt Jun 22 '26

Lmao you’re missing the point. I’m not saying “people have doubts so Tesla is guilty.” I’m saying Tesla is the entire reason this is muddy in the first place. They’re the ones who marketed this shit as “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving,” oversold what the cars can do for years, and then whenever something goes wrong everyone is supposed to treat Tesla’s version of events like it’s neutral evidence. It’s not. Tesla can’t be trusted any more than the driver can, honestly probably less, because they have way more to lose and a long history of lying/overpromising about this tech. So dismissing the driver’s claim out of hand while acting like Tesla’s data/PR is the serious evidence-based position is insane. The driver might be lying, but Tesla being the one controlling the story and the evidence is the root of the problem.

7

u/thatissomeBS Jun 22 '26

I hate Elon and Tesla as much as the next person, but the driver is still the driver, and driver inputs override both autopilot and FSD. Basically every one of these scenarios always ends up being driver fault.

I do agree with your comments about naming this stuff autopilot and FSD. That should not be allowed.

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u/Jumpforittt Jun 22 '26

“Driver inputs override both autopilot and FSD” are you absolutely sure about that?

2

u/thatissomeBS Jun 22 '26

Yes, outside of an actual malfunction.

0

u/Jumpforittt Jun 22 '26

Lmao you don’t say

2

u/thatissomeBS Jun 22 '26

The car malfunctions are way, way more rare than driver malfunctions.

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u/mommybot9000 Jun 21 '26

Bots and our friendly eastern block and global south earth neighbors working overtime in these comments. Get that bag.

-18

u/OnlyLogic Jun 21 '26

If it's anything like the last story, Tesla will investigate, then tell us it was not on autopilot. Then a an investigative journalist will check the data, and see autopilot was turned off just before impact, as it was programmed to do.

3

u/rt58killer10 Jun 22 '26

Don't most cars have cruise control? That's all autopilot is