This is a load of horse shit and cheap shot by regulators who have a personal bone to pick with Apple.
Distracted driving is distracted driving, no matter what the mechanism of distraction happens to be. If the Apple employee was chowing down on a burrito and was distracted by hot refried beans falling into his lap, would the NTSB think that Apple is partially responsible for the crash because it doesn't have a specific corporate policy prohibiting the consumption of burritos while driving? What about drinking coffee, slurping half gallon Big Gulps, balancing melting ice cream cones, sucking down chili dogs, application of make-up, using an electric shaver, having a pet running around loose inside the interior, or (god forbid - but yeah we've all seen it) a toddler standing on the driver's lap holding the wheel?
Everyone is quick to applaud automation and features that alleviate the burden of driving, like cruise control, automatic transmissions, navigation systems, lane keeping, automatic braking, automatic gap control, and so on. The problem is, once a driver is given features that require less attention and reduce the need for continuous engagement that big grey lump that sits between the driver's ears checks out from the present reality and finds something more entertaining or interesting to do, like come up with novel ways to put an end to one's personal existence.
Sure, the personal electronic device industry could come up with various mechanisms to help keep people from being stupid and easily hurting themselves and others. Most of the things and jobs you'd think are "dangerous" like factory work, weapon handling, working on live circuits, cutting things down, blowing things up, lifting massive loads with cranes, etc., all have a plethora of safety rules, regulations, mechanisms, safeguards, and systems in place to prevent injuries and death. And each and every one of them has been defeated by people who proved that no matter how stupid you'd think someone must be to override, bypass, or simply ignore the obvious danger, there's always someone out there that's not only that stupid, but is off-the-charts stupid in a way that makes the safety system designers question their sanity. Sure, it's nice to think that the Darwin effect will eventually render the problem moot, but as we've seen the the past few years, the Darwin Theory is seemingly working in reverse and stupidity reigns supreme and is now seen as a stable reality.
While I feel soory for his family. Using a phone while in charge of a car ? Clearly people are very stupid. I don't even use hands free. Phones should be band in cars full stop. Fed up sitting traffic jams because some idiot thinks using a phone, hands free or not, is safe. More often than not killing someone else. And yes I do run my business and drive about seeing clients, but you can wait to answer the phone, better than being dead. Rant over.
What a stupid, stupid post. I've been on the phone for hundreds of hours, hands-free, while driving. Haven't killed anyone, injured anyone, nor had a fender bender. Because I know my cognitive abilities. For me driving is the best time to catch up on calls. What about road trips? Should I be unable to speak on the phone while I'm on a highway for 7 hrs?
Sumwalt also laid blame on Apple, saying in a statement, "The driver in this crash was employed by Apple — a tech leader. But when it comes to recognizing the need for a company PED policy, Apple is lagging because they don't have such a policy."
Pay close attention to the position of the quotes here. The NYSB simply stated that Apple is lagging in an area of policy. That’s a lot different than placing blame. At least legally speaking. There’s no viable attribution of actual liability against Apple in this context or in the statement by the NTSB. Not so for Tesla.
So essentially the NTSB is blaming Tesla and Apple for the driver/employee not using common sense and following the rules. Seems to me there ought to be a bit of personal responsibility involve here.
I blame Budweiser for the drunk driver that killed himself.
/s
"In 2018, Huang was involved in a fatal crash in Mountain View, Calif., when the Autopilot system on his Tesla Model X failed to recognize an obstacle,"
THIS ladies and gentlemen is the reason Apple is "late to the party".
Tesla car with feature improperly marketed as “autopilot”..... let’s blame Apple.
Actually, the "autopilot" branding is consistent with its usage and capabilities in aircraft, which is where the term came from-- it is NEVER intended as autonomous pilotage, in aircraft or cars. It is an unfortunate thing that people inaccurately equate "autopilot" with "autonomy."
Pilots NEVER stop flying the plane while autopilot is engaged- they are constantly monitoring systems, forward progress, and traffic outside. Automobiles demand the same level of attention while on autopilot.
Every time you turn Autopilot on in a Tesla it tells you to keep your eyes on the road and that you remain responsible for the vehicle's actions. It is unfortunate that this person decided to do something stupid instead.
Apple's has incorporated such capabilities into its iOS mobile operating system with a "Do Not Disturb While Driving" option, but the feature is disabled by default.
Wasn’t on either my SE after I upgraded or on my 11. It was enabled from day one and Ive never enabled it.
I think this changed in iOS 13. iOS 12 it wasn't enabled, iOS 13 it was on by default and is much better at detecting it's in a moving car.
Tesla car with feature improperly marketed as “autopilot”..... let’s blame Apple.
Actually, the "autopilot" branding is consistent with its usage and capabilities in aircraft, which is where the term came from-- it is NEVER intended as autonomous pilotage, in aircraft or cars. It is an unfortunate thing that people inaccurately equate "autopilot" with "autonomy."
Pilots NEVER stop flying the plane while autopilot is engaged- they are constantly monitoring systems, forward progress, and traffic outside. Automobiles demand the same level of attention while on autopilot.
Every time you turn Autopilot on in a Tesla it tells you to keep your eyes on the road and that you remain responsible for the vehicle's actions. It is unfortunate that this person decided to do something stupid instead.
It may be an unfortunate thing that people inaccurately equate "autopilot" with "autonomy", but the legal jeopardy for Tesla is that the company was over zealous in its marketing Autopilot cpabilities to customers. The NHTSA went along with it. Both got their hands slapped by a very exasperated NTSB, which is made up of very technically capable individuals, wondering about an additional 14 investigations of Tesla cars.
I always steer clear of Tesla vehicles - not because of the car itself, but because of morons like this one who do every but drive when operating a vehicle.
It's already against California law to hold a cell phone while driving or to even have a laptop computer (even if closed) in the front cabin area. If the NTSB is going to blame Apple, why not also blame the victim's parents? Is the NTSB trying to distract from Tesla's false advertising of "auto pilot" that isn't actually autopilot?
In Queensland, Australia, recent changes to mobile phone / driving laws means get busted holding a cell phone whilst driving is an on-the-spot $1000 fine and 4 demerit points (12 demerit points is an automatic 3 month license suspension & demerit points have a 2-year expiry window). I agree the unfortunate Tesla driver definitely short-listed himself for that year's Darwin award.
Sounds to me like the NTSB just wants Apple to have a written policy not to use company phones while driving. That shouldn’t be necessary but in today’s world.....
Anybody caught driving while operating a phone or other device with their hands should get the same penalty as a drunk driver or intoxicated driver.
They should be thrown in jail and given a hefty fine and also possibly lose their license.
If some innocent person is mowed down by one of these irresponsible drivers, then I don't think it matters much to the dead innocent person if the driver was drunk or playing with their phone. The end result is the same.
Some people are barely capable of walking on the sidewalk while using their phone. I can imagine what those same people would be like behind the wheel, and it aint pretty.
Blaming Apple muddies the water, obscures the message.
Not to mention is just downright smarmy. He knew bringing Apple into it (ridiculously) would assure that quote would be spread all-over the News Media.
Tesla car with feature improperly marketed as “autopilot”..... let’s blame Apple.
Actually, the "autopilot" branding is consistent with its usage and capabilities in aircraft, which is where the term came from-- it is NEVER intended as autonomous pilotage, in aircraft or cars. It is an unfortunate thing that people inaccurately equate "autopilot" with "autonomy."
Pilots NEVER stop flying the plane while autopilot is engaged- they are constantly monitoring systems, forward progress, and traffic outside. Automobiles demand the same level of attention while on autopilot.
Every time you turn Autopilot on in a Tesla it tells you to keep your eyes on the road and that you remain responsible for the vehicle's actions. It is unfortunate that this person decided to do something stupid instead.
I'm not going to get too invested into this discussion, as my point is to highlight that blame is clearly being apportioned disproportionately to Apple, when the driver was clearly led to believe that his car was better than it is.
But I will say this:
1. There is no reasonable expectation that a driver of a car has any understanding of the "Autopilot" capabilities of an aircraft. This is not an adequate excuse for marketing something "auto" when it's not - it's closer to an assistant or I dare say, "co-pilot."
2. Tesla constantly tout the autonomous features of their Autopilot system, including stating that future updates will deliver complete automation. Elon Musk himself has also improperly associated features with full automation, one example where he stated that the Navigate on Autopilot feature as having "full self-driving capability".
3. The car already performs fully autonomous driving tasks: One such example is the ability to summon the car to the driver.
4. Yes there is a warning, but warnings aren't useful if the driver is led to believe that it only serves as lip service for passing state law. (Much like how every modern car has a warning about not being distracted by the console.)
Blaming Apple muddies the water, obscures the message.
Not to mention is just downright smarmy. He knew bringing Apple into it (ridiculously) would assure that quote would be spread all-over the News Media.
Essentially, he created ClickBait.
Good point if the driver was using a knockoff like Huawei , MiPhone or Pixel no one would bat an eye.
IPhones have a driving mode where they limit incoming messages and usage. Anything more then that, such as defeating the mode and playing a game while he’s supposed to be driving the damn car is the drivers fault. Maybe they want iPhones to shut themselves OFF when in a moving vehicle?
Right! CarPlay literally shuts the applications not supported (or not applicable) by it, or gives a siri voice interface only (Whatsapp for example). So that should be more than effective. Playing a video on your phone while driving is more like a suïcide action, and even worse it could have killed or maimed others (including animals). A very irresponsible thing to do. I think, in his defence, his total trust in autopilot can be attributed to Tesla, making ridiculous claims about the safety of it. (I suspect things like forward radar, to detect objects in front of the cars, and sonar dare disabled above a certain speed limit to avoid 'false positives'. This means the car would hit the brake (and possibly cause an accident) a 'million times' when traveling in a normal way on a highway (I can explain why this is if anyone is interested)). I think the NTSB has a well balanced view on this.
The comments dovetailed with NTSB arguments revolving around employer responsibility. During the hearing, NTSB officials noted companies need to enact strict policies prohibiting the use of cellphones while driving. Apple currently lacks such rules.
"We expect our employees to follow the law," Apple said in a statement to CNBC.
Echoing the other comments about the non-existent need for an Apple corporate policy that says "obey the law."
NTSB is way off the mark here. Blame is totally on the driver, as it would be if he he were employed by any other company, with some level of obligation, perhaps "fault", perhaps not, on the part of Tesla to make sure their customers understand what AutoPilot is and is not.
I mean, who would NTSB blame if he were unemployed or retired? The unemployment office? The retirement fund brokerage or SSA?
As someone pointed out, this is NTSB creating clickbait, pure and simple.
Apple does not need to include a statement of no cell phone use while driving in their policy. They stated that they expect employees to follow the law. That's enough. If it's not, then they need to explicitly state things like:
"Do not run over pedestrians while driving." If they don't state this then apparently the NTSB will call them out on it after an employee hits a pedestrian.
"Do not put your fingers into a blender when it is plugged in." If they don't state this then apparently the Consumer Product Safety Commission or OSHA will call them out on it after someone cuts a finger off while making a smoothie in the break room.
Comments
Distracted driving is distracted driving, no matter what the mechanism of distraction happens to be. If the Apple employee was chowing down on a burrito and was distracted by hot refried beans falling into his lap, would the NTSB think that Apple is partially responsible for the crash because it doesn't have a specific corporate policy prohibiting the consumption of burritos while driving? What about drinking coffee, slurping half gallon Big Gulps, balancing melting ice cream cones, sucking down chili dogs, application of make-up, using an electric shaver, having a pet running around loose inside the interior, or (god forbid - but yeah we've all seen it) a toddler standing on the driver's lap holding the wheel?
Everyone is quick to applaud automation and features that alleviate the burden of driving, like cruise control, automatic transmissions, navigation systems, lane keeping, automatic braking, automatic gap control, and so on. The problem is, once a driver is given features that require less attention and reduce the need for continuous engagement that big grey lump that sits between the driver's ears checks out from the present reality and finds something more entertaining or interesting to do, like come up with novel ways to put an end to one's personal existence.
Sure, the personal electronic device industry could come up with various mechanisms to help keep people from being stupid and easily hurting themselves and others. Most of the things and jobs you'd think are "dangerous" like factory work, weapon handling, working on live circuits, cutting things down, blowing things up, lifting massive loads with cranes, etc., all have a plethora of safety rules, regulations, mechanisms, safeguards, and systems in place to prevent injuries and death. And each and every one of them has been defeated by people who proved that no matter how stupid you'd think someone must be to override, bypass, or simply ignore the obvious danger, there's always someone out there that's not only that stupid, but is off-the-charts stupid in a way that makes the safety system designers question their sanity. Sure, it's nice to think that the Darwin effect will eventually render the problem moot, but as we've seen the the past few years, the Darwin Theory is seemingly working in reverse and stupidity reigns supreme and is now seen as a stable reality.
What a stupid, stupid post. I've been on the phone for hundreds of hours, hands-free, while driving. Haven't killed anyone, injured anyone, nor had a fender bender. Because I know my cognitive abilities. For me driving is the best time to catch up on calls. What about road trips? Should I be unable to speak on the phone while I'm on a highway for 7 hrs?
/s
"In 2018, Huang was involved in a fatal crash in Mountain View, Calif., when the Autopilot system on his Tesla Model X failed to recognize an obstacle,"
THIS ladies and gentlemen is the reason Apple is "late to the party".
Pilots NEVER stop flying the plane while autopilot is engaged- they are constantly monitoring systems, forward progress, and traffic outside. Automobiles demand the same level of attention while on autopilot.
Every time you turn Autopilot on in a Tesla it tells you to keep your eyes on the road and that you remain responsible for the vehicle's actions. It is unfortunate that this person decided to do something stupid instead.
I think this changed in iOS 13. iOS 12 it wasn't enabled, iOS 13 it was on by default and is much better at detecting it's in a moving car.
They should be thrown in jail and given a hefty fine and also possibly lose their license.
If some innocent person is mowed down by one of these irresponsible drivers, then I don't think it matters much to the dead innocent person if the driver was drunk or playing with their phone. The end result is the same.
Some people are barely capable of walking on the sidewalk while using their phone. I can imagine what those same people would be like behind the wheel, and it aint pretty.
Essentially, he created ClickBait.
But I will say this:
1. There is no reasonable expectation that a driver of a car has any understanding of the "Autopilot" capabilities of an aircraft. This is not an adequate excuse for marketing something "auto" when it's not - it's closer to an assistant or I dare say, "co-pilot."
2. Tesla constantly tout the autonomous features of their Autopilot system, including stating that future updates will deliver complete automation. Elon Musk himself has also improperly associated features with full automation, one example where he stated that the Navigate on Autopilot feature as having "full self-driving capability".
3. The car already performs fully autonomous driving tasks: One such example is the ability to summon the car to the driver.
4. Yes there is a warning, but warnings aren't useful if the driver is led to believe that it only serves as lip service for passing state law. (Much like how every modern car has a warning about not being distracted by the console.)
Good point if the driver was using a knockoff like Huawei , MiPhone or Pixel no one would bat an eye.
CarPlay literally shuts the applications not supported (or not applicable) by it, or gives a siri voice interface only (Whatsapp for example).
So that should be more than effective.
Playing a video on your phone while driving is more like a suïcide action, and even worse it could have killed or maimed others (including animals).
A very irresponsible thing to do.
I think, in his defence, his total trust in autopilot can be attributed to Tesla, making ridiculous claims about the safety of it.
(I suspect things like forward radar, to detect objects in front of the cars, and sonar dare disabled above a certain speed limit to avoid 'false positives'. This means the car would hit the brake (and possibly cause an accident) a 'million times' when traveling in a normal way on a highway (I can explain why this is if anyone is interested)).
I think the NTSB has a well balanced view on this.
NTSB is way off the mark here. Blame is totally on the driver, as it would be if he he were employed by any other company, with some level of obligation, perhaps "fault", perhaps not, on the part of Tesla to make sure their customers understand what AutoPilot is and is not.
I mean, who would NTSB blame if he were unemployed or retired? The unemployment office? The retirement fund brokerage or SSA?
As someone pointed out, this is NTSB creating clickbait, pure and simple.
"Do not run over pedestrians while driving." If they don't state this then apparently the NTSB will call them out on it after an employee hits a pedestrian.
"Do not put your fingers into a blender when it is plugged in." If they don't state this then apparently the Consumer Product Safety Commission or OSHA will call them out on it after someone cuts a finger off while making a smoothie in the break room.