These incidents should be treated as severely as drink driving
> These incidents should be treated as severely as drink driving
Why? Driving distracted with autopilot is at least an order of magnitude less dangerous than drunk driving.
Agreed. And they should stop calling the feature "auto-pilot".
Tesla autopilot should be treated in the same way as it is in commercial airliners. If you happen to have a few hundred miles of open road without crossroads or infrastructure, go ahead and stretch your legs. They don't need to rename autopilot, people just need to stop thinking that it means self driving. It's pretty clear from the manufacturers perspective – keep your eyes on the road while you're driving.
Pilots know what "autopilot" means because they have a certification to be a pilot. In popular culture, "autopilot" has a stronger connotation than is technically correct. I don't think it's a coincidence that Tesla chose that name for their feature.
So how do the statistics regarding Teslas running into things compare with those for other types of car running into things?
Hopefully people become more responsible before a politician decides autopilot is too dangerous