Consumer Reports Calls On Tesla To Disable Autopilot, Tesla Not Impressed

Tesla’s semi-autonomous driving feature, called Autopilot, is getting a lot of negative press recently after it was revealed that the feature was switch on in a fatal Tesla crash earlier this year. About a week ago, Autopilot was blamed for yet another crash which was fortunately not fatal but Tesla absolved Autopilot of all responsibility after an investigation. Consumer Reports, which ranks Tesla cars very highly, has called on the company to disable Autopilot. Tesla is not impressed by the suggestion and reiterates that it won’t disable the feature.

The consumer rights group says that Tesla is giving customers a “false sense of security” by marketing this feature as Autopilot and that they are “deeply concerned that consumers are being sold a pile of promises about unproven technology.”

Consumer Reports calls on Tesla to disable Autopilot until it updates the feature to ensure that the driver’s hands are on the steering wheel at all times. Even though Autopilot does caution drivers to hold the steering wheel it’s possible for the feature to do its thing even when both hands are off the steering wheel.

The rights group also suggests that Tesla stop calling the feature Autopilot because it’s misleading and potentially dangerous as well as issue clearer guidance on how the system should be used and what are its limitations.

Tesla has already said that it’s not going to disable Autopilot and that it’s constantly introducing improvements which ensure that drivers supported by Autopilot remain safer than those driving without this feature. “While we appreciate well-meaning advice from any individual or group, we make our decisions on the basis of real-world data, not speculation by media,” is the company’s stern response to this suggestion by Consumer Reports.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Transportation
Tags: Autopilot, Consumer, Tesla