It seems that now more than ever, Tesla owners are forgetting that their car's Autopilot and Adaptive Cruise Control functions do not turn their cars into fully-autonomous machines.

In a video that was posted to YouTube Wednesday, a Tesla Model S is shown navigating itself through mild traffic, until its front bumper meets the rear-end of a van stopped in its lane of traffic.

As Electrek's Fred Lambert sharply pointed out in his post, it appears that the Tesla's sensors were following the black wagon directly in front of it, but the sensors were unable to recognize that the wagon maneuvered around the stopped van. You can see the Model S slowing down as the wagon slows down, but then briefly speeding up once the wagon gets around the obstacle.

It's only after the wagon takes off and is no longer directly in the Tesla's sight that the car notices the stopped van in its path.

Though the incident looks to be relatively low-speed, the description below the YouTube video reads that "the whole front of the car needs to be replaced, including a parking sensor and a steel beam."

Also in that description, the uploader said "Yes, I could have reacted sooner, but when the car slows down correctly 1'000 times, you trust it to do it the next time to. My bad."



Yeah, buddy. Your bad.

In its owners manuals, Tesla clearly states that Traffic Aware Cruise Control, which is likely the system being used in this video, might not brake for stopped vehicles and that drivers should be "prepared to take immediate corrective action."

In response to this video, a Tesla spokesperson told Tech Insider "Tesla Autopilot is designed to provide a hands-on experience to give drivers more confidence behind the wheel, increase their safety on the road, and make highway driving more enjoyable. Autopilot is by far the most advanced such system on the road, but it does not turn a Tesla into an autonomous vehicle and does not allow the driver to abdicate responsibility. Since the release of Autopilot, we’ve continuously educated customers on the use of the feature, reminding them that they’re responsible for remaining alert and present when using Autopilot and must be prepared to take control at all times."

Tesla's Autopilot technologies aren't perfect and they don't make the cars fully-autonomous. Why can't people remember that?

H/T Electrek