David Friedman, who was acting head of the NHTSA in 2014 and is now vice president of advocacy for Consumer Reports, said he was surprised the agency didn’t declare Autopilot defective after the Gainesville crash and seek a recall. The Delray Beach crash, he said, reinforces that Autopilot is being allowed to operate in situations it cannot handle safely.
“Their system cannot literally see the broad side of an 18-wheeler on the highway,” Friedman said.
Tesla’s system was too slow to warn the driver to pay attention, unlike systems that Consumer Reports has tested from General Motors Co. and other companies, Friedman said. GM’s Super Cruise driver assist system operates only on divided highways with no median turn lanes, he said.
It's clearly worse than other similar systems and they make it worse by suggesting, in various ways, that it's much better than it is. Tesla drivers believe they are "teaching" the system when they get in near accidents [narrator: they are not]. It's a menace.