That's great until the self-steering mechanism drives into a pedestrian or gets the driver into the hospital. Insurance sure isn't going to pay out and even if it does, no amount of money can undo injuries.

These rules aren't in place to annoy people who have fun with cars, they're a public safety issue. Until OpenPilot is confirmed to be safe enough to be road legal in Europe (I doubt it ever will be).

Having a 1366kg vehicle under complete control of a system with the disclaimer

> THIS IS ALPHA QUALITY SOFTWARE FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A PRODUCT. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR COMPLYING WITH LOCAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS. NO WARRANTY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.

with hardware that was cobbled together in a garage somewhere, taking this thing out on the road is pure insanity.

I wonder why you’re getting downvoted, these are good points.

“pure insanity” I mean cmon, hyperbole much? Y’all sound like people who have never operated a motor vehicle in less than ideal conditions.

Im sure you’d change your mind if it killed or maimed a relative of yours and you were suing the vehicle operator. It’s irresponsible at the very least.

It’s on a cross-country rally through sparsely populated countyside in the dead of winter. The risks seem negligible to me. The assistance may actually make this safer than without it on such a grueling 1000km/day distance, much of it spent driving in the dark.

The hardest to safely drive, with most risk to others safety, in the most densely populated areas of Sweden and Finland.

The well maintained highways would be much safer. Not even considering the autopilot.

> It’s on a cross-country rally through sparsely populated countyside in the dead of winter

The people who live in that sparsely populated countryside wouldn't agree with you that the risk seems negligible. To drive on ice (which some of the roads turn into if it rains/wet-snow then gets cold), with experimental technology on country roads sounds like a recipe for the car to end up in someones living-room.

The worry isn't the crappy car, it's that you can't get 3rd party insurance for it(or if you do, it won't pay out as your car isn't road legal). So yeah if you crash into a tree that's no big deal, but if you hit a Ferrari that's a problem as your insurance pays out nothing.

That depends on regulation in specific country, they might be mandated to pay out.