So I take it your answer to the first part of my question (which, let’s recall, was “have you used one of these systems yourself”) is “no”. For what my anecdote is worth, I’ve driven one quite a few thousand miles and my own experience of the system is exactly the opposite of what you speculate will be the case. Anecdote is famously not data, of course. But speculation is even more not data.
(It’s also not just me who reports increased attentiveness and decreased fatigue while using autosteer + TACC. It’s a common theme among Tesla drivers. No, this isn’t a controlled study, but again, it beats the Power Of Pure Reason as a basis for forming an opinion.)
Tesla publishes safety figures. As someone once told me, you can look it up.
I’m not particularly impressed by the “zomg Tesla driver asleep at wheel” stories because at this point it’s quite clear that some corollary of the “if it bleeds, it leads” principle is at work, where auto accidents and incidents are worthy of headlines… but only if the auto is a Tesla. Selection bias makes for good click rates but bad science.
Even if your speculation is true, you focus the the hand that (so you say) taketh away to the exclusion of the hand that giveth. The latter is that the failure mode of a car with Autopilot engaged that isn’t receiving driver input, is to put on the hazard lights and come to a stop, while avoiding obstacles. The failure mode of a car with no guidance systems that isn’t receiving driver input, is often more fatal, for the driver and bystanders. See for example the Grateful Dead rollover story upthread.
