The rising popularity of self-driving cars has caused many to question just how safe these vehicles are. These concerns were highlighted when one woman posted a video of her dancing in her self-driving Tesla with no hands on the steering wheel.
On Sept. 25, San Francisco resident Vanessa Lim (@vanesssalim) posted a video of herself dancing in a Tesla, with text overlay that says, “when you can have solo dance parties bc your car drives itself.” The video has received over 10,500 views as of Tuesday.
Overwhelmingly, the comments enthusiastically supported her energy. “Lmao I do that in a non self driving car,” said the top comment.
However, some comments questioned just how safe the self-driving feature is. “I just get scared of the self-driving sometimes,” wrote one commenter.
What Does Full Self-Driving (Supervised) Offer?
Tesla describes its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) feature as “a suite of advanced driver assistance features” that can “make lane changes, select forks to follow your navigation route, navigate around other vehicles and objects and make left and right turns.”
However, the company emphasizes that the feature “is intended to be used only with a fully attentive driver” and that “it does not turn a Tesla into a fully autonomous vehicle.”
“You and anyone you authorize must use additional caution and remain attentive,” says the Tesla FSD webpage. “It does not make your vehicle autonomous. Do not become complacent.”
How Safe Is It?
Reports of the self-driving feature being involved in crashes are not unprecedented. In May, Forbes reported that two months prior, an Alabama Tesla owner was driving a Model 3 in Full Self-Driving mode when the vehicle “suddenly, for no obvious reason, veered off the road, crashed and flipped upside down.” According to the article, “the driver suffered a chin injury but was okay.”
It is also notable that in early 2024, Tesla updated the name of the feature to include the word “supervised," explicitly specifying that Full Self-Driving requires driver attention.
However, even though there are reports of the feature being safer than driving without it. Tesla has said on their website that driving a Tesla is “54% safer than a human driver when FSD (Supervised) is engaged,” specifying that this is “compared to Tesla vehicles driven manually with active safety.”
Is It Safe To Dance While Driving?
While it appears that the FSD (Supervised) feature is relatively safe, drivers should still ensure that they are being attentive to the road while driving. Even with Tesla’s claims of improved safety, many experts have warned that no driver-assist system is foolproof.
Actions depicted in Lim’s video such as dancing, or just taking hands off the wheel for extended periods, can reduce a driver’s ability to react to possible hazards. While the feature is effective and convenient for many, it is ultimately meant to assist, not replace, human attention.
