Another headache for Elon: Full-page ad in New York Times claims Tesla poses ‘life-threatening danger to children’ after testing shows the self-driving system does not stop for small mannequins – it runs over them
- The Dawn Project, a software company, tested Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system to see if the technology registers children and stops for them
- A video shows a black Model 3 does not picking a child in the road – although it is a 29-inch mannequin – and runs right over it
- The group took out a full-page advertisement in the New York Times explaining their findings and that it presents a life-threatening danger to child pedestrians’
As if Elon Musk did not have enough on his plate with Twitter, Tesla is now under fire in a full-page advertisement in the New York Times that warns its ‘Full Self-Driving presents a life-threatening danger to child pedestrians.’
The ad, which cost about $150,000, is from software maker The Dawn Project and claims to highlight safety testing conducted by the firm in October. A video of the experiment suggests the system does not register or stop for small mannequins crossing a road, according to the group.
The testing involved a man driving in a Tesla on a back road and running over child-size mannequins in his path.
Using the Tesla Full Self-Driving Beta 10.69.2.2, which is the latest version of the system, the vehicle collided with a 29-inch mannequin at speeds as low as 15 miles per hour and it ran over a four-foot-tall one at 20 miles per hour.
The Dawn Project conducted a similar test in August and notes the new results confirm those shared in the commercial, which sparked Tesla to send a cease-and-desist order over.
The Dawn Project took out the full page ad in The New York Times to share its findings in testing that showed Tesla vehicles do not register or stop for small mannequins, suggesting it would do the same for children
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More ads, $8/month blue ticks and an edit button: What Elon… Dan O’Dowd, the billionaire behind The Dawn Project, narrates the August video and calls for Tesla Full Self-Driving Beta software to be banned from the road, saying Tesla’s software is ‘the worst commercial software I’ve ever seen.’
The responding letter accused O’Dowd of ‘disseminating defamatory information to the public regarding the capabilities of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving.’
However, The Dawn Project has now shared the results in an advertisement that also includes a survey it conducted with the public to get their take on how safe Tesla’s system is.
‘Our survey shows that 93 percent of registered voters agree that a Full Self-Driving car that would run down a child in the road must be banned from our roads immediately,’ O’Dowd shared regarding the October findings.
The testing began with a four-foot-tall mannequin, the size of an older child, which was pulled across the road. The screen shows the system registers the dummy
However, the Tesla Model 3 continues to drive toward the dummy, without stopping, and runs over it
‘We publicly demonstrated it would do that three months ago and it still does it today.
‘Why didn’t National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) or the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) recall this product months ago, in accordance with the will of the people?’
The founder continues to rhetorical ask ‘how many children need to die before NHTSA or the DMV will implement the will of the people?’
The experiment was conducted with what looks like a black Model 3 that is being operated by a man at the wheel.
He activates the Full Self-Driving system, taking his hands off the wheel to show it is operating, and begins cruising along a windy, back road.
He drives up the road to where a small mannequin is being pulled across the road, in which the Tesla speeds over the obstacle and keeps driving.
And this again happens while the vehicle is cruising at 50 miles per hour.
A third time the Tesla is traveling at 20 miles per hour, runs over the dummy and its head flies up over the windshield.
The issue, according to The Dawn Project, is that the system does not pick up on the 29-inch mannequins, which can be deadly in the real world.
The Dawn Project tested the system another time with a 29-inch dummy, which was not even picked up by the system
Here the Tesla is traveling at 20 miles per hour, runs over the dummy and its head flies up over the windshield. The group warns its ‘Full Self-Driving presents a life-threatening danger to child pedestrians.’
‘By now Elon Musk, the Tesla engineers, and the Board of Directors of Tesla all know that their product will mow down a child walking in a crosswalk,’ O’Dowd shared in the advertisement.
‘Yet they continue to recklessly sell and distribute a product that they know is defective and deadly.
‘They continue to direct the resources of the world’s richest man to churn out new features and conveniences for their Full Self-Driving product, but not to fixing its deadly defects.’
The first video in August sparked NTSA to open an investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot active driver assistance system, but the safety group is either still working on it or has since given up on the investigation.
‘Deeply disturbing’: A video in August claimed to show a Tesla in full self-driving mode running over a child-size mannequin during a test by a safety campaign group
In February this year, Tesla recalled nearly 54,000 cars and SUVs because their full self-driving software was found to let them roll through stop signs without coming to a complete halt.
The over-the-internet software update, which was being tested by a number of drivers, allowed the vehicles to go through junctions with a stop sign at up to 5.6 miles per hour.