Support CleanTechnica’s work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.
Last month during Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting, Elon Musk noted that Tesla would soon allow texting while using FSD (“Full Self Driving”). That was potentially going to be a huge step forward. Was Tesla about to let human drivers completely stop supervising the car in FSD mode and do things like text or watch a movie? Was Tesla going to take on legal and financial liability at these times?
Naturally, as it turns out, that statement seemed to imply more than reality would deliver. The hype was bigger than the coming capability. According to a response from Elon Musk to a Tesla driver on X/Twitter yesterday, people with FSD activated will be able to text “depending on context of surrounding traffic.” And being able to do it means that Tesla won’t give you a warning or kick you off of FSD. It does not mean that Tesla is going to take on any liability. You are still in charge of the car.
“By relaxing the driver-monitoring system to allow eyes-off behavior under certain traffic conditions, Tesla is effectively deploying Level 3 autonomy. But there’s a critical catch: unlike competitors who offer similar features in extremely tight constraints, Tesla is not accepting liability. This creates a dangerous gap. The car grants you the privilege of brief distractions, but you retain 100% of the risk,” not a tesla app writes.
“The behavior that Elon describes – allowing phone use in specific, system-approved contexts is similar to Mercedes-Benz’s Drive Pilot, which is certified as an L3 system on certain stretches of highway in California.
“When Drive Pilot is active (under 40 mph in traffic jams, with no inclement weather, a leading vehicle, and no construction), Mercedes explicitly informs the driver they can watch videos or text – and that liability rests with Mercedes for the duration the system is active.”
So, wait … Tesla is behind Mercedes in this regard? Mercedes at least takes on liability in the limited situations where you can use its version of Autopilot/Full Self Driving, but as far as we can tell, Tesla is not assuming an ounce of liability.
If this is all Elon Musk was referring to, this is a pretty big disappointment. If Tesla doesn’t plan to allow you to use your phone a significant amount of the time, and, more importantly, doesn’t take on any liability while you are using it, this is close to insignificant as far as increasing consumer demand and juicing sales.
Also note that in some states (like Florida and Texas), you’re allowed to use your phone when your vehicle is stopped (e.g., at a red light), but in other states, it’s illegal to use your phone even while the car is stopped. So, beware.
“This creates a trap for owners. Your Tesla may not nag you for texting in a Los Angeles traffic jam, implicitly telling you it is safe. But if a police officer sees you, you’ll still receive a ticket. The officer doesn’t care about what version of FSD you are running, only that you are holding a phone, which remains illegal.” Indeed.
Sign up for CleanTechnica’s Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott’s in-depth analyses and high level summaries, sign up for our daily newsletter, and follow us on Google News!
Advertisement
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Sign up for our daily newsletter for 15 new cleantech stories a day. Or sign up for our weekly one on top stories of the week if daily is too frequent.
[embedded content]
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
CleanTechnica’s Comment Policy
Share this story!