Tesla fanboy on FSD blows through stop sign, UK weighs driverless accountability

An attempt to prove the superiority of Tesla's so-called Full Self Driving system over Google's driverless Waymo cars in San Francisco fails to instil confidence in Elon Musk's preference for camera-only control.

In a video published to YouTube channel HyperChange, the host meets up with Tesla fanboy slash hypeman Omar Qazi (known on social media for his Tesla Whole Mars Catalog accounts) to compare the two systems.

The intention is to demonstrate that Tesla's Full Self Driving system in the latest Model S update, which combines artificial intelligence with a camera-only object detection platform, is all you need for safe and capable autonomous driving.

The Waymo system, running in a fully driverless Jaguar I-Pace licensed to operate as a 'robotaxi' in San Francisco, combines cameras with radar and lidar systems, along with heavily detailed and regularly updated mapping developed specifically for autonomous operation.

Elon Musk has previously said his Full Self Driving system is "really the difference between Tesla being worth a lot of money or worth basically zero".

👆 As he boasts of the Tesla system's capability, Qazi's Model S screams down one of San Fran's steep hills (16m25s) and blows through a stop sign, hitting its bump stops as it crosses the level intersection.

As Qazi stumbles through acknowledging the error – "yeah that wasn't good", his YouTuber passenger admits to be "a little freaked out".

After crossing the intersection, Qazi has to grab the wheel a number of times to keep it from driving into parked cars. "Holy shit, what's going on here?" he exclaims before deciding to pull over and check the cameras, confirming they were clean and not obscured.

The video continues with no further major dramas, so if you can sit through the many dozens of "dude" and "bro", check it out below.

UK to ban 'self-driving' marketing, will hold carmakers accountable for incidents on the road

Meanwhile, earlier this month, King Charles and his UK government confirmed it will use a new Automated Vehicles Bill to ban carmakers from describing vehicles as “self-driving” or “driverless” unless their systems are approved under changes that will be included in the new legislation.

"While the vehicle is driving itself, a company rather than an individual will be responsible for the way it drives," the government said.

In branding terms, Tesla's Autopilot and (supposedly more advanced) Full Self Driving systems have the appearance of 'doing what it says on the tin', but Tesla specifies that they are officially assistance systems and the driver must monitor the road and the vehicle controls at all times.

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In most countries, including Australia, drivers must not merely monitor but actually keep their hands on the wheel and maintain direct control at all times.

Speaking with Reuters [↗], AXA insurance's UK boss Tara Foley said, "for insurers, it also provides crucial clarity for establishing liability for self driving".

Last year, Musk was quoted as saying: “In the US, things are legal by default. In Europe, they’re illegal by default. So, we have to get approval beforehand. Whereas, in the US, you can kind of do it on your own cognizance, more or less.

On an investor call in October this year, Musk said: “Obviously, in the past, I’ve been overly optimistic about this."

This is far from Tesla's first run-in with negative media when it comes to autonomous driving. See our stories below.

But hey, at least it's doing this: