Hammad Khalid
Tesla has now granted more Tesla users access to the beta of its “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) program via a “request” button on Tesla dashboard screens, despite the president of the National Transportation Safety Board voicing severe reservations about its safety last week.
However, before a motorist can use the software, Tesla will calculate their “safety score,” which will be based on five variables that predict “the chance that your driving might result in a future collision,” according to a page on Tesla’s website.
According to The Verge, the score is calculated based on data gathered by sensors on the driver’s Tesla, and it takes into account occurrences of forward collision warnings per 1,000 miles, forceful braking, aggressive turning, hazardous following, and forced Autopilot disengagement.
According to the safety score guide, a Tesla’s Autopilot feature disengages after three visual and auditory warnings, “when your Tesla car has concluded that you have taken your hands from the steering wheel and have become inattentive.”
The manual does not specify what Tesla believes an appropriate safety score for accessing FSD, although it does state that most drivers will have a score of 80 out of 100. The FSD beta software does not fully automate a Tesla; the driver must maintain control of the car at all times.
Tesla is releasing the FSD beta early next year, after a restricted beta of the software with a select set of consumers. In July, it launched a monthly subscription plan for FSD for $199 per month, or $99 per month for Tesla customers who purchased the now-discontinued Enhanced Autopilot package. Previously, the FSD bundle was offered for a one-time price of $10,000. According to the conditions on Tesla’s website, Tesla owners can terminate their monthly FSD membership at any moment.
According to The Verge, the National Transportation Safety Board’s head, Jennifer Homendy, stated last week that Tesla should solve “fundamental safety problems” before extending FSD, calling the company’s use of the phrase “full self-driving” “misleading and reckless.” The NTSB can conduct investigations and offer recommendations, but it does not have the ability to impose penalties.
Tesla certainly deceived countless individuals into misusing and abusing technology.
Jennifer Homendy
When a popular Tesla blog tweeted an editorial questioning whether the company had a “fair chance” following Homendy’s comments, Elon Musk, who recently said he doesn’t want to be a CEO of anything, responded with a tweet that included a link to an editable version of Homendy’s Wikipedia page (which, as of this writing, has a paragraph titled “Tesla criticism” that links to news stories about her recent comments). Musk did not respond to more questions on Twitter.
