Elon makes critical confession in Tesla crash that kills teenager

[2101Guy]

Musk admitted that Tesla made a mistake in removing speed limiter before crash that killed teenager, father tells court

“Well, I guess we shouldn’t have taken the limiter off,” the father, James Riley, recalled Musk saying when he took the witness stand to testify against Tesla. Riley said the CEO told him that Tesla would review its policies.

fortune.com

Curtis Miner, the attorney, told a jury Thursday that the billionaire chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. made a “critical confession” when James Riley asked him in a May 2018 phone conversation how a device that was supposed to prevent the vehicle from going faster than 85 miles per hour (137 kilometers per hour) was removed before 18-year-old Barrett Riley veered off a Florida road at 116 mph and hit a wall.

After confirming that James Riley, through his company, was the registered owner of the car, Musk said Tesla technicians shouldn’t have removed the speed limiter without his authorization, according to the lawyer’s account of the phone call.

 

[Dewg]

I don't have kids, but there definitely should be a parental function to limit features like speed and ADAS. More cars are adding this.

 

[glide]

I don't have kids, but there definitely should be a parental function to limit features like speed and ADAS. More cars are adding this.

There is. It’s called not giving your underage kids a 5,000lb piece of metal that goes 0-60 in 3 seconds.

Auto manufacturers are not in the business of parenting.

 

[Dewg]

There is. It’s called not giving your underage kids a 5,000lb piece of metal that goes 0-60 in 3 seconds.

Auto manufacturers are not in the business of parenting.

I do love sensational headlines with "killed teenager" which makes everyone think that a young person was involved, though the person was actually a legal adult. That said, the "parenting" mode would be nice for when you loan your car to someone and don't want them to abuse your car or ADAS functions without experience.

 

[glide]

I do love sensational headlines with "killed teenager" which makes everyone think that a young person was involved, though the person was actually a legal adult. That said, the "parenting" mode would be nice for when you loan your car to someone and don't want them to abuse your car or ADAS functions without experience.

If the kid was an adult, there is even less of a leg for the parents to stand on.

An adult would understand that speeding and driving recklessly can have potential deadly consequences.

Again, it is not up to the car manufacturer to prevent this type of risk-taking.

 

[GlmnAlyAirCar]

unbelievable. If you get past the headline and read the article, you will find that the technicians were tricked into removing the setting. This is fraud committed but the young adult. Additionally, the parents were well aware that the son drove recklessly, and still allowed him to drive the car.

if anyone is culpable it is the parents.

 

[2101Guy]

unbelievable. If you get past the headline and read the article, you will find that the technicians were tricked into removing the setting. This is fraud committed but the young adult. Additionally, the parents were well aware that the son drove recklessly, and still allowed him to drive the car.

if anyone is culpable it is the parents.

I dont necessarily disagree with you. In this specific case, it appears (yet again) that not having a PR team/Communications team (vs letting the CEO talk/tweet too much) has potential to (once again), be costly. Maybe this one wont cost 40 million in fines..

 

[2101Guy]

(And why is this in the FSD forum?)

Electronic parental controls over ADAS type controls (and speed) could be something added after this case

 

[HankLloydRight]

Musk isn’t even a defendant in the trial. It’s only the father saying that Musk made this confession in a phone call. Such total BS!!

 

[Knightshade]

I dont necessarily disagree with you. In this specific case, it appears (yet again) that not having a PR team/Communications team (vs letting the CEO talk/tweet too much) has potential to (once again), be costly. Maybe this one wont cost 40 million in fines..

Of course, hilariously, Musk made a huge profit on that fine

To "make up" for the 20 million of it Tesla the company had to pay he bought 20 million dollars of extra TSLA stock.

In Fall of 2018.

When it was trading at about $60 a share (in post split value).

He's more than 10xed his money on the deal thanks to that fine