this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2023
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[–] samus7070@programming.dev 210 points 9 months ago (6 children)

The real crime is marketing the driver assist capability under the name autopilot when it is anything but that.

[–] TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 150 points 9 months ago

Oh no, it's even worse than that.

It's the CEO and other staff repeatedly speaking of the system as if it's basically fully capable and it's only for legal reasons why a driver is even required. Even saying that the car could drive from one side of the US to the other without driver interaction (only to not actually do that, of course).

It's the company never correcting people when they call it a self driving system.

It's the company saying they're ready for autonomous taxis and saying owner's cars will make money for them while they aren't driving it.

It's calling their software subscription Full Self Driving

It's honestly staggering to me that they're able to get away with this shit.

[–] dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net 35 points 9 months ago

I think the real crime is vehicular manslaughter, especially the SECOND one.

[–] Neato@kbin.social 23 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Tesla should be playing wrongful death suits every time autopilot kills someone. Their excuses don't excuse the blatant marketing that leads people to believe it's a self driving car.

[–] 800XL@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

But you see that wasn't the vehicle's fault. It's been programmed perfectly. What happened was the fault of the pedestrians and driver for not properly predicting what the car would do.

maybe /s maybe not.

[–] Goferking0@ttrpg.network 9 points 9 months ago

no you see the issue is that the auto pilot stopped right before the accident so obviously it was entirely drivers fault, please don't check how much time was between it stopping and the accident

[–] raptir@lemdro.id 22 points 9 months ago (5 children)

Do we need to go through what autopilot in a plane or boat actually does again?

[–] kool_newt@lemm.ee 23 points 9 months ago (6 children)

It doesn't matter, Tesla cars are marketed to the public which isn't expected to know these things. To probably 90% of people "autopilot" means "drive automatically".

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[–] dexa_scantron@lemmy.world 17 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If we do, then they shouldn't have picked a name that most people think does something it doesn't.

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[–] fiah@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

do we need to go through the differences in training, aptitude and intelligence between pilots, captains and your neighbor Greg again? Marketing it as "autopilot" to anyone who can sign a car loan is reckless and has killed people and will continue to kill people until they stop

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[–] Fox@pawb.social 10 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

It's a common misunderstanding that an autopilot system in an airplane does everything or even a lot of things. The most basic ones keep the wings level and nothing else. Of course Tesla is probably counting on that misconception to sell this feature, but actual pilots using any kind of autopilot are still on the hook to pay attention 100% of the time.

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[–] PatFussy@lemm.ee 114 points 9 months ago (2 children)

The guy was going through a suburb at 75 mph blowing through stop lights. Ofcourse he has to pay, im surprised hes not getting jail time. This has nothing to do with the car, thats just gross negligence

[–] eltrain123@lemmy.world 48 points 9 months ago (2 children)

My tesla doesn’t let me use autopilot or FSD if I set it over 5% of the posted speed limit. How is this guy going 75 in the burbs?

[–] BossDj@lemm.ee 40 points 9 months ago

I wonder if Tesla had this section of road mapped as freeway. Especially since it rolled through a red.

"Suburb" in LA is a very loose term

I would think that the guy is just lying, but Tesla would call that out REAL quick.

[–] Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world 17 points 9 months ago

That is unfortunately a configurable option.

[–] asdfasdfasdf@lemmy.world 24 points 9 months ago

My interpretation of the title is "only has to pay...". 23K is nothing.

[–] qooqie@lemmy.world 88 points 9 months ago (5 children)

Wow the value of a life I guess. I don’t really know what can come close to the value of a life, but this doesn’t seem like it.

[–] burliman@lemm.ee 35 points 9 months ago (3 children)

What would be the value of life then? I’ll save you the answer: no matter how big the number you say, someone else will say bigger. Until it becomes priceless, which is the answer.

However death and accidental death isn’t always avoidable. And when we pin the fault on someone we cannot expect to say “priceless” is what they owe the victim’s family. So we assign an amount of money or time that hurts, and call it good.

Doesn’t mean life is worth that. And saying so doesn’t help anyone.

[–] a4ng3l@lemmy.world 50 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Sure but even looking a only the financial produce of one person for a family dwarfs the comical 23k here. And that’s not even looking at the emotional side of things. 23k is straight insulting imho.

Two people were killed, so you're really talking 11.5k.

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[–] PeepinGoodArgs@reddthat.com 7 points 9 months ago (3 children)

The U.S. uses the value of statistical life VSL. Here are the numbers from the Department of Transportation over the last 10 years or so.

So, it is interesting and egregious that the driver needs only pay $23K and Tesla pays nothing at all!

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[–] dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net 4 points 9 months ago

That is just the fine, the families are suing the driver and Tesla. Here’s hoping the Tesla suit gives them the real prize: the death of a company.

(I know it won’t happen but a guy can dream.)

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[–] TenderfootGungi@lemmy.world 69 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If you want to kill someone in the US with little consequences, run them over with a car.

[–] ladicius@lemmy.world 20 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Germany the same. Small fine, three month without license, that's it for killing a human being.

[–] Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee 7 points 9 months ago (5 children)

If we're talking about an honest accident then how long do you think the jail term should be?

[–] sbv@sh.itjust.works 15 points 9 months ago (3 children)

"honest accident" is the crux of the question. If the driver was doing everything perfectly and some other party was entirely responsible for the accident, not much (maybe none?).

But, at least in my corner of Canada, most drivers are not behaving responsibly or adhering to the law. Speeding, following too closely, illegally passing, and using phones while driving are common. If a driver kills someone while doing something overtly dangerous, they deserve jail time.

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[–] psycho_driver@lemmy.world 54 points 9 months ago (1 children)

For fuck's sake I doubt if that would cover funeral expenses.

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[–] Commiunism@lemmy.wtf 47 points 9 months ago (2 children)

There's this saying about how if something is punishable by a fine, then it's only illegal for poor people.

I don't even have to finish this do I

[–] fosforus@sopuli.xyz 26 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Finland's fine system at least tries: some fines scale based on the perp's monthly income.

Example: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/06/finnish-businessman-hit-with-121000-speeding-fine

I'm unshamedly proud of this. Apparently Switzerland has the same system.

[–] isVeryLoud@lemmy.ca 10 points 9 months ago

I love this

[–] PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world 17 points 9 months ago

There’s a joke that if you want to murder someone in America, make sure you do it in a car. Our courts are specifically tailored to avoid penalizing drivers for “accidentally” killing people.

[–] Alchemy@lemmy.world 40 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Anyone else tired of beta testing Tesla’s garbage just by being outside on the roads near these vehicles?

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[–] maryjayjay@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

Civil suit. He's already been proven guilty

[–] jabjoe@feddit.uk 10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Fines = legal for a price.

[–] JadenSmith@sh.itjust.works 4 points 9 months ago

Fines only exist to punish the poor.

[–] Nacktmull@lemm.ee 9 points 9 months ago

Well, he didn´t do anything ... /s

[–] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

You honor, I actually didn't wack anyone with this self actuating axe. I bought it and I told it to go chop wood. The people just happened to be too close to the axe. Yeah I was holding the axe but I wasn't actually putting any pressure. The tail was wagging the dog in other words.

Ok so $10,000.00. Fine? Oh alright I guess that'll teach me not to buy autonomous axes.

[–] testuserpleaseupvote@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

American taxpayers will pick up the rest of the bill. Nice subsidy for the rich.

[–] Pxtl@lemmy.ca 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)
[–] KpntAutismus@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago (1 children)

the problem here is the law. there should be actual consequences, not fines. jail time for murder.

[–] aeharding@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago (5 children)

Part of the reason why you don’t lose your license for killing someone with a car in the US is because it’s much more of a ‘punishment’ because of how car dependent the US is.

Also, keep in mind a lot of trips are 3 miles or less in the US, and most drive it, despite wanting alternatives to driving.

If someone is trying to get from A to B in a 2 mile trip and the government basically mandates people to drive that, can you really blame them if they end up killing someone accidentally? What if they accidentally kill themselves smashing into a tree? You might assign some of the blame to their driving, but would that solve anything in the long term? a large part of the blame should be assigned to this insane transportation system we’ve built where everyone needs to drive 2 miles to pick up a bag of milk.

TLDR prevention, not blame will reduce traffic violence.

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[–] BlackNo1@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

uh is that it?

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