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Opinion: Tesla is getting sued by cops because a drunk driver was behind the wheel

(Credit: Tesla)

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Five Texas law enforcement officers are suing Tesla for monetary relief of over $1,000,000 after a Tesla Model X collided into the cops and their vehicles. The driver operating the Tesla Model X was inebriated at the time, based on the police report.

On February 27, 2021, a Tesla Model X, reportedly with Autopilot engaged, crashed into five police officers on the Eastex Freeway in Texas. The plaintiffs claim that Tesla’s safety features failed to detect the officers’ cars because of “manufacturing defects.” 

The TX police officers are also suing Pappas Restaurant INC., which owns the Pappasito’s Cantina, where the Tesla Model X driver was served alcohol before the accident. The police report from the crash stated that the driver was arrested “on suspicion of intoxication assault.” 

Tesla Autopilot vs. FSD Confusion Continues

Any Tesla owner or supporter who reads the lawsuit will quickly identify the lawsuit’s inaccuracies about Autopilot. The most obvious flaw in the lawsuit would be how it confuses Tesla Autopilot with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite. 

The lawsuit lists supposed Autopilot features to support the plaintiff’s claim that Tesla inaccurately marketed its driver assistance system as safe. The lawsuit claims it compiled the list of Autopilot features from Tesla’s website. The list includes the “Navigate on Autopilot” feature, which is currently listed under the Full Self-Driving suite.

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The lawsuit also includes tweets from Elon Musk. In one instance, the lawsuit states: “Tesla, Inc. and its CEO, Elon Musk, have also repeatedly exaggerated the actual capabilities of Autopilot, resulting in the public, including first responders, and Tesla drivers being put at a significant risk of serious injury or death:” 

Then the lawsuit includes the following screenshot of an Elon Musk tweet, which clearly references FSD.

This recent lawsuit by five Texas cops reveals the ongoing confusion about Tesla’s safety features, particularly between Autopilot and Full Self-Driving. It also shows the continuous fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) Tesla critics sow about its safety systems. 

The Irony of Tesla Autopilot Criticism

Ironically, Tesla created Autopilot and its Full Self-Driving suite to prevent people from misusing their vehicles, such as in this case, where the driver operated a Tesla Model X irresponsibly. Critics against Tesla Autopilot and Full Self-Driving constantly blame the company for drivers misusing their vehicles, as shown by this recent lawsuit against the company. 

During the last earnings call, Elon Musk explained, once again, why software like Autopilot and Tesla FSD are necessary for modern vehicles. 

“At scale, it will have billions of miles of travel to be able to show that it is the safety of the car with autopilot on is 100% or 200% or more safer than the average human driver,” Musk said. “At that point, I think it would be unconscionable to not to allow autopilot because the car just becomes way less safe. It would be sort of like shake the elevator analogy. Back in the day, we used to have elevator operators with a big switch. They operate the elevator and move between floors.”

“But they get tired or maybe drunk or something or distracted and every now and again, somebody would be kind of sheared in half between floors. That’s kind of the situation we have with cars. Autonomy will become so safe that it will be unsafe to manually operate the car relatively speaking. And today obviously we just get an elevator where we press the button for which floor we want, and it just takes us there safely,” he explained.

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A copy of the lawsuit can be seen below.

Lawsuit Filed Against Tesla and Pappas Restaurants by Maria Merano on Scribd

The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. If you have any tips, reach out to me at maria@teslarati.com or via Twitter @Writer_01001101.

Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

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Tesla flexes its most impressive and longest Full Self-Driving demo yet

Tesla is flexing a lengthy Full Self-Driving demo from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

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tesla full self-driving demo from san francisco to los angeles
Credit: Tesla

Tesla its most impressive and longest demo of the Full Self-Driving suite, showing a zero-intervention trek from the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles. The drive required no interventions from the vehicle operator, the video showed.

It also included a quick Supercharging stop about two-thirds of the way in.

Tesla has been extremely confident in the performance of the FSD suite since releasing it years ago. However, with improvements in data comprehension and storage with its neural nets, as well as a more refined Hardware system, FSD has made significant strides over the last year.

I took a Tesla Model Y weekend-long Demo Drive – Here’s what I learned

Tesla’s prowess with driving tech has established the company as one of the industry leaders.

In a new video released on Tuesday, Tesla showed a drive of roughly 360 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles, a trek of about six-and-a-half hours, with zero interventions using Full Self-Driving:

Full Self-Driving is not fully autonomous, but it does operate under what Tesla calls “Supervised” conditions. This means that the driver does not have to have their hands on the wheel, nor do they have to control the accelerator or brake.

Instead, Tesla’s internal cabin-facing camera tracks eye movement to ensure the driver is ready to take over at any time and is paying attention.

The version of FSD used in this example is likely the version that the public has access to; the only differentiating factor would be the Hardware version, as older vehicles do not have HW4.

With Tesla’s Robotaxi suite in Austin operating since late June, the company stated that those vehicles are using a version that is not yet available to the public. It does not require anyone to be in the driver’s seat, which is how the vehicles are able to operate without anyone in the driver’s seat.

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Elon Musk’s new $29B Tesla stock award gets strange synopsis from governance firm

Did CGI not realize that Tesla Shareholders supported Musk being paid not once, but twice?

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elon musk speaking
Credit: TED

Elon Musk was recently awarded around $29 billion in Tesla stock as the company’s Board of Directors is attempting to get its CEO paid after his original pay package was denied twice by the Delaware Chancery Court.

But a new and strange synopsis from the Corporate Governance Institute (CGI) says the award is potentially a strength move to “endorse the will of a powerful CEO.” The problem is, in the same sentence, the firm said the new award brings up a “question of whether the board exists to steward a company in the interests of all stakeholders.”

The problem with their new analysis of Musk’s pay package is that shareholders voted twice on Musk’s original pay package of $56 billion. They voted to give Musk that sum on two separate occasions.

Musk’s original $56 billion pay package was approved by shareholders twice; once in 2018 and once again last year. Last year’s vote was in response to Delaware Chancery Court Kathaleen McCormick’s decision to revoke the “unfathomable sum” from Musk.

Shareholders still showed support for Musk getting paid. Tesla said in its new award to the CEO that this is a way to give him compensation for the first time in seven years.

CGI said in its note (via TipRanks):

“When a board builds its strategy around a single individual, it creates a concentration risk, not just operationally, but culturally and ethically. If that individual becomes a source of volatility, the company becomes fragile by design.”

What’s strange with this type of narrative is the fact that Tesla’s valuation has skyrocketed with Musk at the helm. Go back to 2020, and the stock is up over 200 percent. Since Musk’s $56 billion pay package was introduced in 2018, shares are up well over 1,000 percent.

Tesla engineer explains why Elon Musk deserves new pay package

Musk’s 2018 pay package was also not awarded to him without performance-based incentives. He was required to reach certain growth goals, all of which were accomplished through the launch of new vehicles and the advancements of its driver-assistance suites, like Autopilot and Full Self-Driving.

It is tough to agree with CGI’s perception of Musk’s new pay plan, especially as it is much less than what shareholders voted on twice. Musk deserves to be paid for his contributions to Tesla.

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Tesla Robotaxi is headed to New York City, but one thing is in its way

Tesla is working to hire Vehicle Operators in New York City, but the company still needs some regulatory hurdles to go through.

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tesla store in New York City
Credit: Tesla

Tesla Robotaxi will be headed to New York City, but there is one huge thing that stands in its way: approval to test autonomous vehicles.

Tesla is expanding its Robotaxi platform across the United States as it currently operates in Austin, Texas, and the Bay Area of California.

The company has also been seeking approvals in several other states, including Nevada, Arizona, and Florida.

However, the company is also working to expand to major metropolitan areas across the U.S. that it has not explicitly mentioned, as it attempts to reach CEO Elon Musk’s goal of giving half of the country’s population access to the platform by the end of the year:

It appears New York City is next on the list, according to a job posting on Tesla’s Careers website.

The company says it is hiring a Vehicle Operator for Autopilot in Flushing, New York, a section of the borough of Queens. Queens is connected to Brooklyn and Long Island, so it seems more ideal than launching in Manhattan or the Bronx, where traffic is heavy and charging is not as readily available.

Tesla’s job posting states:

“We are looking for a highly motivated self-starter to join our vehicle data collection team. As a Prototype Vehicle Operator, you will be responsible for driving an engineering vehicle for extended periods, conducting dynamic audio and camera data collection for testing and training purposes. Access to the data collected is limited to the applicable development team. This role requires a high level of flexibility, strong attention to detail, excellent driving skills, and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.”

It also lists the hours of operation as Tuesday through Saturday or Sunday through Thursday, with its three shifts listed as:

  • Day Shift: 6:00 AM – 2:30 PM or 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM
  • Afternoon Shift: 2:00 PM – 10:30 PM or 4:00 PM – 12:30 AM
  • Night Shift: 10:00 PM-6:30 AM or 12:00 AM-8:30 AM

We wouldn’t count on New York City being the next place Tesla launches Robotaxi. According to a report from CNBC, a spokesperson for the NYC Department of Transportation confirmed Tesla has not yet applied for permits that are needed to operate its ride-hailing service.

For what it’s worth, it could just be the first step in Tesla’s plans. It also has Vehicle Operator job postings in other regions. Houston, Texas, as well as Tampa, Miami, and Clermont, Florida, are all listed on Tesla’s Career postings.

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