Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) has not cleared its beta stage yet. It is still facing issues. For example, school buses are required by law to board or disembark children and at that time, all vehicles are supposed to stop. However, Tesla does not recognize this need. The car failed to register the stop signs of the buses.
The tests were conducted by the advocacy group The Dawn Project. The group is campaigning against FSD as the results are not very promising. An internal camera shows the pedals, visibly illuminated by a flashlight, to demonstrate that the driver is not accelerating the car. The infotainment screen is in view, too, showing that Autosteering is engaged, but it’s unclear whether full self-driving is too.
It documents two instances of a Tesla seemingly using FSD failing to stop for a parked school bus and showing its stop sign while children are nearby. Furthermore, FSD also ignored school zone speed limits and went on to 40 miles per hour even though there were visible signs that instructed traffic to stay under 15.
A cursory Google search will show videos showing Autopilot properly stopping for school buses, but also videos where FSD supposedly doesn’t. Some might argue that there should be a larger set of data collected by ample testing to support this claim. Nevertheless, oversight of this magnitude is not something to let go of easily. It is enough to declare that FSD is not ready for the road yet.
At the very least, it could use a name change and a complete rebranding so drivers aren’t fooled into thinking the system is fully self-driving when it’s not.