Tesla is all about innovation. In any case, what number of other automakers could take a sedan MotorTrend loved and switch it right into a crossover MotorTrend absolutely hated? Or construct a truck that needed to be recalled eight times for, amongst other things, body panels flying off on the road? And while lame, dumb corporations similar to Waymo don’t include a human within the robotaxi, Tesla is once more the innovator here, with Electrek reporting the corporate has moved its safety monitors to the motive force’s seat. If that is not robotaxi innovation, I do not know what’s.
Allegedly, this transformation is because Tesla’s robotaxis now operate on highways, in addition to surface streets, and it’s true that crashes are more dangerous at highway speeds. Waymo handled that issue by ensuring its robotaxis were secure enough to operate on highways, but who needs that? As Tesla so ingeniously discovered, you do not need vehicles that may safely drive themselves to their destinations to launch a robotaxi service. You simply need a Level 2 driver-assistance system and someone sitting in the motive force’s seat to correct all of the mistakes the system makes.
The haters will, in fact, say we have already got that, and it’s just an Uber ride from a driver who owns a Tesla, but those people don’t understand business. Do those people own corporations with a $1 trillion market cap? No, they don’t. Elon Musk does, though, and it’s all because he understands businesses thrive on innovation.
Texas has gone woke
There’s also likely more to Tesla’s decision to stay a driver safety monitor into the motive force’s seat than simply highway safety, though. While Texas was once a very free state, that modified starting September 1, and Governor Greg “Communism Lover” Abbott has gone fully woke:
The timing also aligns with the brand new Texas Senate Bill 2807, which now governs the deployment of automated driving systems within the state, coming into effect on September 1st.
Prior to this law, Texas was relatively permissive regarding autonomous vehicle testing under earlier statutes, similar to SB 2205 (2017), which allowed operation with out a human driver so long as vehicles complied with traffic laws, had recording devices, and met federal standards.
Nevertheless, SB 2807 introduces stricter oversight for truly driverless operations, including requirements for safety data reporting, first-responder interaction plans, and potential revocation of authorization if safety standards aren’t met.
Firms must also display that their systems can achieve a “minimal risk condition” (e.g., safely pulling over) in case of failure and wish to qualify as a level 4-5 autonomous driving based on the SAE standard.
Since Tesla’s so-called “Full Self-Driving” software is barely Level 2 and may’t even be bothered to stop for a college bus, Chairman Abbott planned to steal their freedom to operate driverless robotaxis under these recent burdensome regulations. But by moving the security monitor into the motive force’s seat and making them the legal driver, they’ll get around that little “our cars aren’t actually self-driving” issue.
This Article First Appeared At www.jalopnik.com
