‘Um @elonmusk, this word Autopilot does not mean what you think it does’ was among the wittiest retorts Twitter users showered the Tesla CEO with after his careless poke at the ‘Turbo’ Porsche Taycan.
Perhaps ‘Autopilot’ is indeed a feature name that would sound misleading to most drivers, some of whom grow confident that they can leave the steering wheel unattended for long periods. However powerful, the AI inevitably makes mistakes, sometimes even culminating in grievous road accidents.
But for today, let us take a glimpse at the reverse: the situations when disaster seemed unavoidable, then the Autopilot stepped in and saved the day.
The company itself has shown us some fairly convincing ads focused on the Autopilot, but it is the dash cam footage showing the Tesla escaping the crash in the nick of time that remains by far the best proof of its effectiveness. And this is what the video here is all about. Tesla’s semi-self-driving system is still far from perfect, sure, but it has lightning-fast reaction speed that may ultimately decide between life and death in extreme situations.
In an earlier news story, we reported about a Tesla car avoiding a rear collision by bolting ahead several dozen feet from almost standing still, courtesy of its Instant Torque feature.