"A man killed in a crash last year while using the semi-autonomous driving system on his Tesla Model S sedan kept his hands off the wheel for extended periods of time despite repeated automated warnings not to do so, a U.S. government report said on Monday." -Reuters
There is a story on CNBC today about an accident involving a man from Florida in 2016. The gentleman was driving his car for an extended period of time in which he ignored the warnings from the autonomous car.
I was expecting to read that there was a lawsuit against Tesla for this incident, and I was plesantly surprised that there wasn't. This is not to say that I wanted there to be a lawsuit, for I do not see how Tesla is at fault.
There is a lawyer representing the family who is looking through the report that has been published. At this point, it seems the law is working to preserve the dignity of the family involved versus pushing for monetary reimbursment.
While this incident seems pretty straightforward, it sparked a thought in my head. Is this something I could be capable of?
I can imagine myself in the future enjoying a leisurely drive with the auto-pilot feature turned on in my car. My phone begins vibrating with a text. Since the autonomous car has things under control I start to answer the text. A few moments later when the car starts to warn me of danger and insists that I take control of the wheel, will I want to do so or take the warnings as a boy crying wolf scenario?
Hopefully I'll be smart enough to put the phone down and forego that Dopamine rush from texting.
One more thing, the man pictured above has a virtual reality of sorts device that he is wearing. What happens when we are on a long trip and want to enjoy our favorite show or play a game? Will we be paying attention enough to notice the car's commands and snap out of unreality?
I realize I am being a bit dramatic with this but it begs the question of what our near future looks like with the rise of the autonomous car, and humans beings who can be lost in the world of virtual reality.
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