Re:California’s AV testing rules apply to Tesla’s “FSD”
by clankyclanker on Friday December 17, 2021 @05:50PM
(#29599317)
> Tesla's "FSD" has the "capability to drive a vehicle without the active physical control or monitoring by a human operator," but it does not yet have the capability to do so safely.
It’s that bit that seems like it would make Tesla’s actions fall even further under the DMV’s purview. Is their argument really going to be that they can’t be held to safety regulations because it’s too unsafe to be regulatable? That’s like saying you’ve stolen too much money to be guilty of robbing the bank.
Re:California’s AV testing rules apply to Tesla’s “FSD”
by paxys on Friday December 17, 2021 @05:46PM
(#29599282)
I think the "loophole" here is that - despite the marketing claims - Tesla is NOT testing a system which is designed to run without active monitoring by a human. This is unlike Cruise, Waymo etc. who do fall under this law.
Re:California’s AV testing rules apply to Tesla’s “FSD”
by bluGill on Friday December 17, 2021 @06:01PM
(#29599399)
Marketing is admissible in court as evidence of intent.
Re:California’s AV testing rules apply to Tesla’s “FSD”
by paxys on Friday December 17, 2021 @06:06PM
(#29599423)
That would be the case if they didn't also have controls in place to prevent the driver from disengaging while autopilot was active.
Re:California’s AV testing rules apply to Tesla’s “FSD”
by bluGill on Friday December 17, 2021 @11:23PM
(#29601624)
The marketing is defense against any claims that you bypassed a safety, since marketing is saying publicly the safety systems are not needed.
My company has lost in court about similar cases where the court decided that the marketing picture showing someone closer than the warning label says is safe means we don't believe the warning label and so we are liable when a customer gets too close to cutting blades.
Basically, the DMV is saying "oi, if you're testing a system that's capable of driving by itself, you have to follow certain rules"!
Then you reply "No, we're still testing it, and it requires human supervision, so it's not capable of driving by itself, so the rules don't apply!"
> "FSD" is aspirationally an automated driving system. The name unequivocally communicates Tesla's goal for development, and the company's "beta" qualifier communicates the stage of that development. Tesla intends for its "full self-driving" to become, well, full self-driving, and its limited beta release is a key step in that process.
> Tesla's "FSD" has the "capability to drive a vehicle without the active physical control or monitoring by a human operator," but it does not yet have the capability to do so safely.