A man was captured on video on 9/9 deliberately jumping in front of a self-driving Tesla Cybercab, seemingly to test its automatic braking and obstacle detection capabilities. The Cybercab successfully stopped on all three occasions as the man repeatedly ran parallel to the vehicle before cutting across its path, even when not fully stepping onto the road. The reckless acts, performed on a busy street, created dangerous conditions for other motorists. In one instance, a blue Jeep following the Cybercab had to brake sharply and swerve when the robotaxi halted, narrowly avoiding a collision.
In a separate video posted on 11/9, another man performed a similar stunt with a Tesla robotaxi. It is unclear if this was the same individual. This time, the man stood directly in the middle of the road, forcing the vehicle to swerve around him.
Experts strongly advise against endangering oneself or others to test self-driving cars. Deliberately rushing in front of a moving vehicle shows a dangerous disregard for human life.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) earlier this month launched an investigation into the Cybercab model. This followed Tesla's deployment of a small number of Cybercabs for commercial testing in Austin, Texas.
Tesla asserts that the vehicle meets all Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), despite its design lacking a steering wheel, brake pedal, accelerator pedal, or rearview mirrors. Regulators aim to determine the basis for Tesla's self-certification of safety, given the absence of these traditional mandatory features.
By My Anh (from Carscoops)
