Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in an X post Thursday that owners can text and drive with the latest version of his company’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) driver-assistance software, despite the fact that it’s illegal to do so in most states.
Musk replied to another user who had noticed the newest update to the software, known as FSD, was not flashing a warning as he used his phone while driving. The Tesla CEO wrote the update allows it “depending on context of surrounding traffic.”
Musk didn’t offer any details, and Tesla does not have a PR team that can provide more information. Musk didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Nearly all 50 states have banned texting while driving, and around half of states have made any handheld phone usage while driving illegal, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Despite Musk’s perpetual hype, FSD is still a driver-assistance system that does not make Tesla’s vehicles fully autonomous. And drivers, who are warned by Tesla to keep their hands on the wheel even when FSD is engaged, are liable.
FSD uses a mix of in-cabin camera and steering wheel sensors to monitor a driver’s attentiveness. And because FSD is just driver-assistance software, and not full autonomy, drivers need to be ready to take control of the vehicle if the system encounters a situation it cannot handle. This handover of control is often a major component of crashes that involve the use of driver-assistance systems.
Musk himself has in the past said that Autopilot, the driver-assistance system that comes standard in all Teslas, sometimes made drivers too complacent and confident. Regulators have found more than a dozen fatal crashes in which Autopilot was active.
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