Tesla wanted viral video of an advertisement showing Model 3 mowing over a child-sized dummy scrapped from the internet and TV screens, as per Gizmodo.
Earlier this month, the car company of Elon Musk issued a cease-and-desist letter to the anti-Tesla advocacy group, Dawn Project, who made and posted the advertisement, according to Electrek.
The letter obtained by Gizomodo claims that the advertisement is a "defamatory misrepresentation" of the "Full Self Driving" (FSD) Beta technology of Tesla. The said technology is still in development.
CORTE MADERA, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 27: Brand new Tesla cars sit in a parking lot at a Tesla showroom on June 27, 2022 in Corte Madera, California.
Tesla Sends Cease-and-Desist Letter to Dawn Project
The advertisement made by Dawn Project shows a Tesla Model 3 mowing a mannequin dressed in children's clothes at the speed of 20 miles per hour.
According to the anti-Tesla advocacy group, at the time of the test, the car is FSD Beta engaged. However, according to Gizmodo, a report from Electrek said that it may not have been the case.
The video has fueled the rising wave of Tesla critics. It increased the interest and concern of people in the safety of Tesla's FSD technology.
The timing of the video's release is bad for the image of Tesla as there is an ongoing federal investigation into the company's Autopilot feature.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to rebut the Dawn Project's advertisement, some Tesla fans started making and posting videos of their own "tests."
There are some fans who positioned real children in front of moving vehicles. Since the practice poses danger, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a warning not to drive cars in the direction of children.
The issuance of the cease-and-desist letter could indicate that a lawsuit from Tesla is in the pipeline.
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Tests Show Discrepancies in Tesla's FSD Beta Tech
Dan O'Dowd is the one behind the Dawn Project. He is a tech billionaire who runs Green Hills Software.
O'Dowd's company is said to have a "potential competitive interest in undermining Tesla's current position in the car software market," as per Gizmodo.
However, setting aside the intent of the Dawn Project's and based on other trials of the Tesla Model 3, the car don't always stop when obstacles are put in their way. In fact, an AAA test showed that the vehicle hit a dummy cyclist.
Furthermore, in a span of 10 months, the car company recorded 392 crashes that left six people dead. The record of driver-assisted crashes is higher than any other automaker.
According to Tesla, despite the feature's name, they don't claim that the FSD driver-assistance technology is made "to autonomously drive a car without human intervention."
"Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability are intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment," reads a support post on Tesla's website.
According to Tesla, although the said features are designed to become more capable in the future, the currently enabled features do not make the car autonomous.
Meanwhile, Musk used Twitter to state that the driver assistance technology of the company makes their cars "unequivocally safer."
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