Drivers test Tesla’s autonomous driving on real children
YouTube removed the videos
Carmine Cupani wanted to prove that Tesla’s full self-driving mode (FSD) is completely safe for children and he used his son to do it. Recall that FSD allows Teslas to control the steering wheel, accelerate and brake by themselves.
Cupani and his 11-year-old son therefore performed a series of tests to see if the Tesla would stop or avoid the child.
Some people see it and say “oh that crazy dad, what is he doing?”. I do a lot of things like that but I make sure my child is safe.
The video took place in a parking lot. His son stood near the end of a hallway holding a cell phone to record the test. Cupani accelerated the Tesla from the other end of the parking lot and activated the FSD when it reached 56km/h. The Tesla braked steadily, coming to a complete stop, well before reaching Cupani’s son.
Cupani did a second test, this time on a normal road and with Autopilot, not FSD. The Tesla once again stopped in front of his son.
The same experiment was attempted by Tesla investor Tad Park, testing the FSD with his children, once standing in the road and once crossing it. Both times the Tesla stops before reaching the children.
I have tried FSD in the past and I trust it with my children’s lives. I’m sure it will detect them and I’m also in control and can brake at any time.
YouTube removed both videos, which had gathered tens of thousands of views, as there is a specific rule in the terms of use for content that “endangers the physical or emotional health of minors “, including pranks, challenges and dangerous scenes.
The idea to test FSD with real children came after a video showing Teslas not stopping for children, followed by an announcement by the California Department of Transportation that the name “full self-driving” is misleading, with the agency intending to revoke Tesla’s license to sell vehicles in the state. Tesla owners were not convinced and started the new trend to prove that the results were wrong.
No one should risk their life or the life of anyone else to test the performance of technologies in vehicles. Consumers should never create their own test scenarios or use real people, and especially children, to test technology performance. – National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
