"When Elon Musk boasted in July that he was "getting the regulatory permission" to bring Tesla's Robotaxi service to the San Francisco Bay Area, this was apparently news to regulators. As Reuters reports, both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the California State Transportation Agency were startled by Tesla's ambitious plans to bring its self-driving cabs to another state. Officials practically begged the automaker to publicly clarify its next steps and clear up the considerable "confusion" - apparently to no avail."
"After nearly a decade of Musk promising that entirely self-driving cabs were right around the corner - claims that he reiterated before the launch - the pilot program that kicked off in Austin, Texas, in June actually relied on human "safety monitor s" sitting in the front passenger seats of its vehicles. Despite this defeating the entire point of a robotaxi, Tesla still charged its customers for rides, thrusting it out of the bounds of a cautious test to a reckless deployment of an unfinished product."
Elon Musk claimed to be obtaining regulatory permission to bring Tesla's Robotaxi service to the San Francisco Bay Area. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and California State Transportation Agency officials were surprised and sought public clarification. The Austin, Texas pilot launched in June employed human safety monitors sitting in front passenger seats and relied on remote teleoperation. Tesla charged customers for rides despite human supervision, resulting in strange and potentially dangerous driving behavior and some apparent traffic law violations. Human safety monitors sometimes occupy the driver's seat even on highways. The service remains limited and operationally inconsistent.
Read at Futurism
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