It appears that technology really is moving too fast for the rest of the world to catch up with it. This is most apparent in Tesla's revolutionary autopilot feature that Tesla Model S owners have been playing around with since the beta version was rolled out recently.
The smartphone-style software updates that the Palo Alto-based company employs for its vehicles, without any need for federal approval, has raised serious questions about road safety. The reality is that government agencies have too many blind spots in dealing with modern vehicle software.
Government offices, with their infamous red tape, are now scrambling to put liabilities on road safety on vehicle manufacturers. But how in the world can they stop new vehicle features and remote bug fixes from being installed in private vehicles?
This question has yet to be definitively answered since traditional bureaucratic organizations simply cannot keep pace with innovation. Tesla defended itself against the wrongful use of Autosteer when videos popped up on Youtube showing drivers doing dangerous things while on autopilot.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that they will be installing "some additional constraints" to Autosteer to "minimize the possibility of people doing crazy things with it." Jeffrey Miller, associate professor of engineering practice at the University of Southern California, said that the beta testing of Tesla raises too many questions with regard to regulation.
The company is even able to get away from calling the technology "defective" since it requires drivers to always have their hands on the wheel, something the uploaders of the Youtube videos have blatantly ignored, The Verge reported.
Musk also said on Tuesday's earnings call that he is not aware of accidents caused by Autopilot, only accidents prevented by the feature. This means that so far, it is only the wrongful use of the feature that makes the technology defective. NHTSA has said that "We are currently assessing the need for additional standards as it relates to software and vehicle electronics in general."
The rest of the world must now wait to see if the federal government will take a proactive instead of reactive stance to vehicle software. Most laws are passed as reactions to reality instead of taking the wheel and guiding innovation.
BGR quoted Musk saying, "Well, I'm actually on record saying that I think that all cars will go fully autonomous in the long-term," He added, "I think it will be quite unusual to see cars that don't have full autonomy, let's say, in 15-20 years. And for Tesla, it will be a lot sooner than that." And since Tesla always practices what it preaches, the government has little choice but to act now.