Key Takeaways
1. Mark Rober’s video demonstrates that the Tesla Vision system can be easily fooled into not detecting obstacles on the road.
2. The absence of Radar and Lidar in Tesla vehicles raises safety concerns, especially in common weather conditions like fog and rain.
3. Despite the removal of essential hardware, Tesla’s autopilot system has a lower fatality rate involving pedestrians compared to overall pedestrian deaths on US roads in 2022.
4. Government hesitations about autonomous driving technology are influenced by concerns raised in videos like Rober’s, questioning the safety and reliability of such systems.
5. The video prompts discussions about the broader implications of autonomous driving beyond just Tesla, while also showcasing Rober’s innovative projects.
Famed YouTuber Mark Rober recently uploaded a video showcasing how the Tesla Vision system can be surprisingly easily deceived into not spotting obstacles on the road. While the video does feature some rather unusual road scenarios (such as a massive wall designed to resemble the road ahead), it also implies that the absence of Radar and Lidar could pose risks to human safety in certain situations. These situations include fog and rain, which are both common weather conditions on roads worldwide. However, the probability of encountering such extreme fog and rain as shown in the video and leading to an accident is likely debatable.
Concerns About Safety
Nonetheless, the notion that removing essential hardware for cost and weight reasons (rather than prioritizing accident prevention) indicates that the Tesla Vision system might not offer the road safety that pedestrians desire. Tesla’s choice to eliminate Lidar and Radar sensors from its vehicles, with Musk asserting that they were oversized, heavy, and costly, goes back to 2021. Nevertheless, as of now, the fatalities involving autopilot activation where a pedestrian or cyclist lost their life is substantially lower than the 7,552 pedestrians who perished on US roads in 2022 alone. This suggests that even without Lidar and Radar, the system remains statistically quite reliable.
Government Hesitations on Autonomy
Despite Rober’s eagerness in shining a light on the problems with Tesla specifically, it is the broader concept of autonomous driving for any vehicle (not only Tesla) that has led some governments to delay the implementation of such technologies. There are also several reports questioning if the car in the video is genuinely operating in full self-driving mode.
If you can overlook the fact that it’s improbable to ever confront a wall that looks just like the road in front of you, there are some real questions raised here. Regardless, watching Rober secretly map the interior of Disney’s ‘Space Mountain’ and create a 3D-printed model is definitely worth your time.
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