Substitute Autopilot then.

No other auto maker uses similar language. Ford and GM use BlueCruise and SuperCruise, clearly implying an improved kind of cruise control.

From what bits I've seen of the trial, at least a chunk of it was devoted to the meaning of the word "autopilot". Tesla even brought in a linguist to argue their case: https://bsky.app/profile/niedermeyer.online/post/3lunfw2s2is...

Makes sense. If you’re Tesla’s lawyer you need to do whatever you can to try to prove the name wasn’t a promise of functionality it didn’t meet.

Autopilot in an aircraft is basically cruise control, not full self flying.

This is such a pointless talking point, it amazes me how pro-Tesla people have latched onto it.

It doesn’t matter what it means. It matters what people think it means.

This is discussed tons of other places in these comments, and every previous story about Autopilot and FSD here on HN.

It also ignores how Tesla promoted "autopilot". Until very recently tesla.com/autopilot just showed that a video saying the driver was only there for legal reasons. Yes maybe technically they meant FSD (for which it's also a lie, and which has a lying name as well) but they were definitely mixing the terms up themselves (and I think the video predated FSD)

It’s anti tesla people that bring this whole argument up.

Anyone who drives on autopilot for few hours learns immediately of it’s limitations, it’s not an enigma like some try to purport.

Nothing in the article says he had just bought the car. Seems likely he had had it long enough to learn its limitations.

Didn’t stop him.

Do you honestly think a negligent driver who blows through a stop sign at 62 mph would have acted differently in a car marketed to have "SuperCruise" rather than "Autopilot"? I have no strong belief either way, and I shed no tears for Tesla, but I do worry about any chilling effect on technologies that will make driving safer than the bloodbath we currently suffer on the roads every day.

Yes.

For one thing, SuperCruise and BlueCruise are limited to mapped uninterrupted highways. He couldn’t activate it on that street.

Not only would that have physically prevented it. But if he had been using those systems he would have known they were limited. It makes it much more clear what their capabilities are.

We know how to fix the “bloodbath“. We don’t choose to. I question if level two driving systems help or make things worse despite having used them myself.

Slower speeds and better designed roads make a massive difference. We keep speeds high, make giant wide roads/stroads that psychologically encourage high speed even if the marked speed is lower. We don’t punish speeders anywhere near enough. and we don’t build with trees or other large things next to the road, we put the sidewalk there.

Because when a car that’s going too fast makes a mistake, it’s important that it can mow through a pedestrian and survive instead of hitting a big tree and hurt the driver.

those giant trees next to the road on old streets? They psychologically encouraged the driver not to go as fast. Because they don’t feel as safe at the higher speeds. we chose to stop doing that.

Lower death rates are 100% doable without modern assist systems of any kind.