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Tesla’s Autopilot is too much of a leap of faith for this 70 years old lady [Video]

Self-driving cars are expected to facilitate the life of a lot of people with disabilities, like the visually impaired, but also some elderly people who often face restrictions when driving after a certain age.

Of course, it will require a period of adaptation as evidenced by this 70 years old woman’s first experience with the Tesla Autopilot caught on video.

Tesla Model S owner William Rimmer posted a video of his 70 years old mother trying the Tesla Autopilot for the first time.

As you’ll see, her reaction is a bit problematic though I don’t think Rimmer was fair. He should have told her to keep her hands on the steering wheel, as it is recommended. It’s not only safer, but it also increases the level of comfort when surrendering the controls to the Autopilot.

Although the system drives the vehicle as long as you don’t apply torque on steering wheel, having your hands on it can give you the impression that you are still in control, which ultimately you are since you can override the Autopilot at all time.

Here’s the video (low quality warning: 240p):

Description:

Mom mom is 70 years old this is her reaction to letting my Model S Autopilot on a 2 lane highway.

Featured Image: Photographer David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

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Comments

  1. quiviran - 8 years ago

    I’m 72 and if I acted like that behind the wheel at any time I hope someone would just take my keys away. Can you imagine the danger to herself and everyone else when she is in control of the car? My only fear is that I’ll not live long enough to see some of these things to fruition.

  2. I trust the autopilot more than I trust her.

  3. Lukas - 8 years ago

    Just a point of proofreading for the title. Isn’t it year, not years?

    • Rick Springfield - 8 years ago

      You’re correct, in the context of the headline it should be ’70 year’

  4. Bubba2000 - 8 years ago

    Unfortunately, there are a lot of impaired drivers on the road, like age related, distracted, poor weather, intoxicated, etc. Around 33,000/year fatalities and I suspect over 100,000 with serious and permanent injuries. Tesla need to add multiple cameras and radar for 360 degree coverage even in bad weather. Running the red light/stop sign or somebody else doing it causes quite a few T-bone type crashes and fatalities. There should be a way to detect the traffic lights, besides with optical cameras – may be via the internet since many of the traffic lights are networked.

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Avatar for Fred Lambert Fred Lambert

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