Drivers Say Tesla 'Smart Summon' Feature Not Road-Ready
PALO ALTO (KPIX) — Amid reports of crashes, near-misses and software glitches, there are growing calls for Tesla to put the brakes on a newly-unveiled self-driving feature called Enhanced Summon.
"It is not quite ready yet. It is not safe for the regular person on the road," said San Jose State University engineering professor Fred Barez.
"You might be able to do this on your own campus. You might be able to do this in an empty parking lot. But if you're talking about a parking lot of a big shopping mall, I think you're playing with danger," Barez said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk boasted in a tweet that the "Smart Summon" feature had been used more than 500,000 times since it first became available this week.
But Tesla owners took to social media to vent their complaints. One driver tweeted, "Enhanced Summons failed … drove into the parking structure pole." Others posted YouTube videos in which the car appears to stall or freeze when too many pedestrians or other cars are in its vicinity.
