Elon Musk has responded to a video that has emerged that looks as though it shows a Tesla using the Full Self Drive (FSD) system crash into a child-sized mannequin.
CEO of Green Hills Software, Dan O’Dowd, has been public about his feelings towards the FSD system. He started a campaign last year to try and ban the system branding it as ‘unsafe’. Since the release of the campaign, which they have called The Dawn Project, they have been testing a number of aspects in Tesla’s software.
O’Dowd released to his Twitter followers on Tuesday, the TV advert that The Dawn Project will be running soon, which calls for Congress to shut the FSD project down. The video shows a Tesla crashing into child-sized mannequins multiple times. O’Dowd claims that the Tesla’s were in the FSD mode when this happened.
Our new safety test of @ElonMusk’s Full Self-Driving Teslas discovered that they will indiscriminately mow down children.
Today @RealDawnProject launches a nationwide TV ad campaign demanding @NHTSAgov ban Full Self-Driving until @ElonMusk proves it won’t mow down children. pic.twitter.com/i5Jtb38GjH
— Dan O'Dowd (@RealDanODowd) August 9, 2022
A spokesperson for The Dawn Project has claimed that they performed this test dozens of times during the course of a month. They also said that the Tesla did not veer out of the way or reduce its speed below 25 mph in any of the attempts.
It is also worth noting that these tests were not overseen by a US regulator so they were not carried under the same testing standards.
Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, has taken to Twitter to shut down the claims of the video. Initially he picked up on The Guardian “swallowing scam video hook, line & sinker”.
“The Guardian” swallows scam video hook, line & sinker! https://t.co/D64OpwLvfg
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 11, 2022
One user replied to the post by O’Dowd saying “This is not a joke, this is a scam”. Musk responded saying:
“From Real Scam O’Dowd”
From Real Scam O’Dowd
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 11, 2022
Another Twitter user asked Elon:
“Elon, why is it that Tesla received so much bad press & negativity compared to other car manufacturers?! Why is everyone trying to spread false articles against Tesla?! When in reality Tesla’s are the most advanced & safest vehicles in the world (both for pedestrian & drivers)”
To which Musk responded:
“Because Tesla doesn’t advertise and other car companies do”
Because Tesla doesn’t advertise and other car companies do
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 11, 2022
After the inevitable backlash emerged from Tesla fans and Musk himself, O’Dowd went a step further to say he would be prepared to undertake the tests for the regulators and has provided a link to all of the test data.
There have been lots of requests to see the original data for this test. Further details can be found here: https://t.co/KMff74GBBt
We are prepared to reproduce these scientific safety tests for the media and regulators.
#FSDDelendaEst— Dan O'Dowd (@RealDanODowd) August 9, 2022
