Driver uses son to test vehicle safety
Tech Crunch reported that the deleted test videos all have content to prove that Tesla's autonomous driving software and the testing version of "ally autonomous" technology (FSD) (the automaker's advanced driver assistance system with autonomous driving features but not allowing autonomous driving) work effectively. Accordingly, these software will automatically detect pedestrians and children walking or standing on the road to avoid hitting them.
A YouTube spokesperson told CNBC that they deleted the videos because the platform did not allow users to post content related to minors participating in dangerous activities or encouraging minors to engage in dangerous activities.
These videos were posted as a response to TV commercials for Dawn project, an organization that aims to ban unsafe software from key systems. Accordingly, in its advertisement, Dawn project shows that Tesla's FSD software has continuously hit child's brain on the test track.
The Dawn project, headed by Dan ODowd, CEO of Green Hill Software, also posted a full-page advertisement in The New York Times in January 2022, calling FSD the worst software ever sold by a companies on the Fortune 500 list.
Tad Park, owner and investor of Tesla and CEO of Volt Equity, posted a video on August 14 showing him driving a Tesla Model 3 at a speed of about 12 km/h towards one of his children. The video had tens of thousands of visits before being removed by YouTube.
Mr. Park told CNBC that his children were never in danger. In the video posted by the director, the car was slowing down as it headed towards the child and did not cause any collision.
Tesla's self-driving feature is under investigation
Tesla's Autopilot self-driving feature is an advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) that includes features such as Traffic identification cruise control, clear lane steering and pedestrian detection. FSD is a more advanced system of Tesla and it includes the "Park over calls" as well as "Directions" on Automatic Drivers.
However, a series of Tesla-related accidents that may be related to ADAS systems have prompted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to investigate. Last week, the federal agency updated a survey of 830,000 Tesla vehicles equipped with Autopilot to learn more about how Tesla's cabin cameras work and warn.
Tesla's Autopilot and FSD soft drivers have also been investigated by several US states recently. In late July, the California State Department of Mechanical Transport filed a complaint alleging that Tesla had advertised false information about the capabilities of the ADAS system in an unsafe manner.
CEO Elon Musk also Trumped on August 21 that FSD prices will increase in the North American region, from $12,000 to $15,000 starting on September 5.
