Tesla infamously doesn't have a marketing team, so that one should be easy to answer unless they rehired for that. Not sure on the latest there.
When you get your Tesla and attempt to turn on the features described, it has a dialog with a warning and you have to agree to understanding before proceeding. If you choose to ignore that, and all the other clearly marked and accessible warnings in the manual and not learn how to operate it, is that not on you the licensed driver? Isn't that what regulations and licensure are for?
I'm very much in favor of consumer protections around marketing, but in this case there were none that were clearly defined to my knowledge.
Yes of course it is on you, that's why the driver in this case was found mostly responsible. The question is whether Tesla bears any additional responsibility, not whether they are solely at fault, which they obviously aren't.
> Tesla infamously doesn't have a marketing team
Come on, obviously they do marketing. "We don't have a marketing team" is itself marketing. Here's their most popular YouTube ad, for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlThdr3O5Qo
That video, which is called "Full Self-Driving" even though it came out when Autopilot was the only capability the cars had, was coincidentally released 3 days before the crash we're discussing. Do you think an ad like that, which simply shows the car driving itself and links to a page about Autopilot in the description, might lead someone to believe that Autopilot will do what the video shows? Again, remember that there was no separate FSD product at the time.
> Come on, obviously they do marketing.
Of course they do. You questioned time and money spent compared to warning clarity and the manual. Having no team for marketing implies little time and money spent. I would say they've spent far more money trying to make it safe and clear in the user manual than trying to mislead customers in a few tweets and a video.
> might lead someone to believe that Autopilot will do what the video shows?
It does do what it shows? The driver is attentive not placing their foot on the pedal and not taking their eyes off the road. I believe that is exactly how FSD operated until forced to implement the nag 4? years after this video was made.
Afaik this is the video congress sent to the FTC, under the awesome Lina Khan, and they chose to do nothing about it. I agree Tesla should do better, but that's different than finding them liable for wrongful death in this specific case.
Germany did something about it. California DMV did something about it. If anything it seems the NHTSA and FTC dropped the ball. That seems to be in Tesla's favor legally.