>

30%? Sounds exaggerated.
I'd take that statistic with a pinch of salt, slice of lemon and a shot of tequila.
The people on my way to work save a ton of money by doing stupid shit like this themselves rather than buying an expensive AI that does it for them >

This is a quote from the article
Drivers are warned by Tesla when they install “full self-driving” that it “may do the wrong thing at the worst time.”
How crazy that this is allowed to still operate as it does. >

Tesla auto pilot is still level 2, not level 4/5 as people assumed. >

This is correct. They want to imply and intimate other things…
I had a 2019 bmw 330. There was no button to engage this function, but when you met the criteria (mostly straight freeway and under 40 mph) a note came up on the screen asking you if you wanted to engage a certain mode. 
In that mode the car assumed all accelerating, steering and braking functions and warned yiu before it was about to shut off when criteria no longer met (like speeds above 40). 
Why is this not level 3. Is it because the driver must pay attention and be ready to take over. 
I see that Mercedes’ has what is supposed to be the first level 3 assisted driving where they will assume full legal responsibility when the system is engaged. That’s confidence if true. >

This one is more sophisticated that what I had but with mine yiu are supposed to pay attention. With level 3 I don’t think you have to even watch the road. The Mercedes’ one is already out but not in USA. >

IIRC Level 3 is "100% autonomous and doesn't need a human's help... until it suddenly isn't and does".
You don't have to watch the road most of the time.  But in reality you do, because you need to be there to take over when it finally fails.
Which is why it's a terrible idea, and all the major players want to jump straight from 2 to 4.
Honestly from having used it, I'm pretty sure Toyota's software is capable of level 3 -- they just put a hard nerf on it back into level 2 status, because they want absolutely no part of this mess. >

My 2023 toyota has had a serious adaptive cruise control fuckup or two already (when someone was slowing in a left turn lane, and no cars in front of me it slammed on the brakes on the highway) 
To the point where I don’t trust it very much. >

Well, that’s the reason you have to pay attention and the reason why Tesla drivers must be missing a brain. >

Just saying that my vote is that Toyotas software isn’t that good. Tesla’s is probably worse. 
Just this past weekend I rode in a cruise autonomous vehicle with no one behind the steering wheel for the first time. 
It was a bizarre experience. Clearly had room for improvement but also wasn’t totally terrifying. >

Being constantly ready to correct a fuckup seems like a bigger headache than just driving tbh >

Is my understanding wrong that Tesla self-driving is basically just adaptive cruise control + lane assist? >

No, that's "autopilot".  FSD will legitimately get you from point-to-point, but you still need to be ready to take control, and it fucks up a lot. >

That's the problem, they've managed to market it as though it's a finished product >

How these things don't use basic seat sensors if no driver is present, it pulls that shit over or stops.
The redundancy needed has to assume the driver is an idiot. And yet people keep finding new ways to be stupid... >

I think they require an occassional steering wheel input to "ensure" the driver is paying attention. Not sure if Tesla's did at the time or if this moron just tickled it with his toes from the back seat when required. >

I've seen videos of people who just idly touch the wheel when it does that however. It doesn't take much attention to gently grab the wheel for a second. And they continue to pay no attention to the roadway while doing it.
This is where you get to that problem of needing a system that actually checks If the driver is looking at the roadway.. But if they're already looking at the roadway, why not just let the driver drive the car then! The marketing and resulting crashes are all too often from the users who don't want to pay attention to the road when it's on... Thus why the car would act erratically and they're not prepared to retake control.
The vehicle pulled into the next lane and braked down to 20mph the article said. How did the driver not notice the moment it started dropping and retake control? I'm willing to bet they were not paying any active attention so the unexpected behavior caught them off guard and they had no timely reaction to what it was doing till it was too late. >

Currently, there's a camera in the cabin that checks to see if the driver is paying attention, and if they're not (looking down, not at the road, etc) it will ask for wheel input almost immediately.  They've also tweaked it to make it harder to defeat the torque sensors with weights, something the San Fran backseat rider was doing.  Also, it's a lot more aggressive about "striking out" the driver if they don't give wheel input during a maneuver.  Five strikes and you're kicked out of the beta. >

Tesla gets the most flack for failures, but it almost always comes down to driver fault in these instances. The car didn't behave as expected yes.. But many cases wouldn't have resulted in an accident had the driver also been alert like they were supposed to be.
The knock against Tesla is the very misleading marketing they're constantly advertising it as.
And of course they'll be adjusting and changing their standards after each incident, as any major automaker would do as well... They don't want repeated failures of the same incident, specially when drivers find dumber and dumber ways to defeat the basic safety measures put in place.
As much as this tech is cool, but still really young.. I mostly just don't put my faith in drivers, the average driver is terrible.. And the average driver thinks their better than the majority of other terrible drivers... All the more mistakenly believed when the car does the majority of the work. >

How is it legal for Tesla to involve the general public in their testing without permission? Owners/drivers of Teslas likely get all sorts of warnings and waivers. The rest of us just get a "good luck out there!" ? >

Heard a stat once that after 1030pm something like 30% of drivers are under the influence. I drive late at night sometimes. 🤷