I agree with you.  Touching the brakes should not completely disable autopilot.  The aviation industry has a term for this sort of error, a Mode Error.  If it is unclear what mode the vehicle is in (semi-autonomous mode, or full manual mode) there will be times when the user assumes they are in one mode when in fact they are in the other.  Having the change in modes be as subtle as tapping the brakes makes this type of user error very likely.<p>I think Tesla needs to impose some very clear indicators when they are in autopilot mode vs manual mode (lights on the A pillars, etc.).  They also need to revisit what exactly disables autopilot mode.  Tapping the brakes should not disengage auto braking for example, only accelerating should do that.