We have always wanted to make our tasks easier, and many accidents have occurred when we are in a hurry to go to a certain place and we have not been able to carry out all our daily activities, whether it be applying make-up, reading messages on our cell phone, etc.
This is often the cause of many traffic accidents, simply because we have failed in our responsibility to keep our eyes on the road.
For this type of situation, we believe that the autopilot in automobiles exists. However, it is not always to dispense with our responsibility behind the wheel, as this can cause certain accidents.
Tesla, the famous electric car company brings us the development of an idea that has been brewing for years in the minds of dealers, however, until now it had not had such a boost as the one brought by this company.
These cars have a radar that allows it to identify through specialized software all the objects surrounding the car in order to have a clear idea of what it should do.
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One of the features offered by these vehicles is to regulate the proximity between cars on the road. It is also possible to increase or decrease the speed. All this through a single lever that is close to the steering wheel, so that we can make use of it quickly and comfortably.
If in any case we are driving above the speed limits allowed in urban areas and we want to activate the autopilot, this does not allow us to do so because within its configuration is not enabled the option to exceed these speeds if in any model this option is activated, it will lower the speed to the set speed.
It detects the different signs on the road and adjusts the speed to the maximum recommended speed.
Obviously like all commercial cars, there are several models depending on their price, and this one does not escape that rule, since depending on the car purchased you can access a certain system with more advanced features than others, so that some have the speed control, and other more advanced ones even have the steering wheel control.
Unfortunately, many people have been given the task of exceeding the limits set by the company, which has mentioned that all these have certain limitations, and for that reason certain things should not be done. Such is the case of separating the hands from the steering wheel; since, if the car detects that there are no hands on it, then it will proceed to deactivate; this is done with an interval of 10 seconds.
Other features that these vehicles have and that are required to activate the autopilot mode is to verify if there is the approximate weight of a person in the driver's seat; which ensures that someone must be behind the wheel to avoid any type of accident.
Despite the existence of all these features to carry out a high quality automatic driving, the company is very careful with these warnings, because as they themselves say, these cars are not made to drive fully autonomously, the human factor must always be present to avoid accidents of any kind.
However, and despite all these warnings and all the tests that have been carried out over time with these vehicles, which prove to be very rigorous before going to market, in the year 2,021 there has been a fatal accident, in which two people lost their lives.
This incident occurred on April 17 in the town of Woodlands, which is part of the state of Texas in the United States. In the accident, the car apparently lost control and crashed into a tree and two people were killed.
However, according to local police reports, there was no one in the driver's seat, which makes it almost impossible that the autopilot mode was enabled, since one of the conditions for the autopilot to work is precisely the presence of someone at the wheel.
The passengers in the vehicle were located in the front passenger seat and another in the back of the car.
According to Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, this type of vehicle is almost not likely to suffer this type of accident since its tests have been very strict and for this reason it is guaranteed that if people comply with all regulations when driving it, they will be able to have a satisfactory experience.
On the other hand, and according to many of the users of this type of vehicles have commented that this is almost impossible to happen, unless there is a failure in the software of the same, a matter that to date has not been registered yet.
On the other hand, there are other people who have been given the task through the network, to recreate the possible causes for which such an accident could have occurred, but this is an arbitrary way to use certain tactics to "fool" the vehicle system and make it think that there is someone sitting in the driver's seat of the vehicle.
This is done by placing a certain amount of weight on both the driver's seat and the steering wheel of the car, in order to create the illusion that there is a real person watching all the systems in case the car has some kind of sudden failure.
The case is still under investigation, but for some people this already represents a blemish on the company's track record and they are beginning to question whether the purchase of this type of vehicle to enjoy the autopilot mode is worth it.
On the other hand, there are those who think that it is simply an isolated fact to everything the company has been developing and as such it should not be considered a blemish on the company's track record.
Each person must generate his or her own opinion regarding this incredible event that unfortunately has claimed the lives of two people.
And it leads us to rethink the fact that there is still a long way to go to achieve a higher level of quality and reliability for these dreamed-of improvements in everyday items.
