Siplen later claims, “If Teslas was the only cars on the road, it wouldn’t be any accidents”
Even though Tesla’s Autopilot with full self-driving capability is getting darn good at driving itself, with no help from the driver, you legally still have to be behind the driver’s seat.
New Tesla Model X owner Albert Siplen of North Carolina either knows this or doesn’t care as, according to several videos he shared on Facebook earlier today (Sept 27,2020) Siplen flexed on his followers, letting his Tesla Model X “drive him to breakfast” as he filmed from the passenger seat. There was no one behind the wheel.
Check out the videos for yourself below. And, just in case they suddenly disappear (for legal reasons) there’s a mirror linked here and here.
In the main video we see Siplen riding shotgun, his Tesla Model X, with Autopilot engaged, driving along at highway speeds in the fast lane upwards of 60 MPH. He passes an 18-wheeler on his right. In the event the semi jerked violently into his lane and his Tesla did not respond quick enough, Siplen would have no control.
Siplen seems to enjoy himself, pointing his smartphone camera at the semi driver’s face to get his reaction.
In his second video we see his Tesla Model X, off the highway, driving in stop and go traffic. We can hear the *ding ding ding* of his Tesla, presumably warning him he needs to have his hands on the steering wheel.
Siplen proclaims, “Man, this thing is driving me to Henderson (North Carolina.) Ya’ll think this is safe?”
Finally, we see Siplen mastering his Smart Summon feature in a Wal Mart parking lot. Smart Summon allows a Tesla Model X owner the ability to “fetch” their car from 200 feet away with no one behind the wheel.
Regarding his shotgun antics, Tesla clearly states,
Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability are intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment. While these features are designed to become more capable over time, the currently enabled features do not make the vehicle autonomous.
When you spend $8,500 on an optional feature, you can count on some Tesla owners, like Siplen, to bend that “rule” to the max.
Here’s a screenshot of what Siplen optioned out.
When Siplen is chided for his antics in the comments, he pleads ignorance.
Yasmin Points comments, “this dude about to get caught up for this post”
Siplen responds with, “Caught up on what. This my car I purchased it and this what it do. Stop being cheap and purchase the upgrades. Yours will do it too. It should have an sensor on the seat or something if it wasn’t meant to do.”
A helpful Neil Welch informs Siplen that he’s two autonomous levels away from where he needs to be.
If this is a troll man, you’re on point, but da**. There’s 6 levels of autonomy for self driving. To legally not need someone in the driver’s seat requires a minimum level 4, but even then most countries won’t allow it. Teslas are a level 2 with the feature set you got. So you’re 2 levels below the minimum out of 6 levels. I hope that makes sense.If this is a ruse man you got me good, but it’s worth knowing if it’s not.”
Welch further explains that legally, he’s signed an “agreement” with Tesla that you need to have your hands on the wheel at all times and, in the event of an accident, you “waive any case you would have had if you sue Tesla for fault.”
Siplen then plays the troll and responds with , “All of that is cool. I understand it. But why is my vehicle doing this? Do you understand me? Let me tag my lawyer”
It’s the same with similar comments from well-wishers throughout his videos, hoping that Siplen gets it through his head it’s illegal what he’s doing.
It’s been a couple hours since he’s posted up his videos and other car outlets should jump on this story by tomorrow.
Hopefully, they all make an example of Siplen because, at the moment, letting your EV drive itself without a human is just not safe enough.
