Following the vicious criticism on the Tesla Autopilot system, the company rolled out an update for the assistive driving feature. The 8.0 software update rolled out for the Model S and Model X makes significant changes to the Autopilot system.
Now, Autopilot can prevent a driver from using the feature if not used carefully. The update enables the system to lock-out the driver from using Autopilot till the vehicle is parked.
One of the Model S drivers tested the improved Autopilot system by taking his EV onto the highway. Autopilot took four minutes and 27 seconds to warn the driver to hold the steering as it cruised along a straight stretch of highway with low traffic.
The edge of the digital gauge cluster flashes and beeps to alert the driver. If the alerts are ignored, the red alert warns the driver that the Autopilot feature has been locked for the rest of the cruise. Thus, the driver is forced to take control of the steering wheel.
The new updated Autopilot uses the radar system of Tesla rather than the embedded cameras. Elon Musk believes that these updates could have prevented the fatal accident in which Joshua Brown lost his life.