AutoPilot does NOT mean Hands-Off

There are several good reasons why Tesla AutoPilot requires hands on the wheel at all times. Scenarios that the AI cannot handle yet are:

• An object on the road in front of the car that is not safe to run over

• A perpendicular vehicle (there have been 2 fatal crashes with near identical conditions)

• Cones in a construction zone

• Multiple lane markings

• Giving way for an Ambulance to pass

• In inclement weather, sometimes

• Before a toll booth when lane bifurcates, the car weaves a bit too much for my comfort and I prefer taking over

• After a toll before the lane mergers, it just stops abruptly

• Sometimes, when cars in adjoining lanes are clinging the lane markers, it slows down unnecessarily

I’ve seen 5 software crashes in the last 2 weeks on my Model S, after none in the previous 9 months. Last 2 updates have been buggy. First one was the most scary. It was a software crash in slow motion. Over the course of 20 minutes, different aspects of the front console stopped working gradually, until it went black and then same for central console. Needed the dual scroll wheel reset. After that, it has become almost routine. Then, when testing the red light detection feature, the warning came up and got burned onto the screen and refused to go away when after parking in my garage. Needed another reset.