[amluto]

> Navigate on Autopilot can be customized to a driver’s preferences, including four settings for speed-based lane changes (Disabled, Mild, Average, or Mad Max).

Mad Max is definitely a feature I want self-driving cars to have. </sarcasm>

[nathantotten]

No kidding. This does not inspire confidence. v9 already does weird things like show stopped cars bouncing around randomly. This kind of thing along with crazy branding really makes it feel unsafe.

It’s one thing that the stereo goes to 11, that’s funny. But I’m not going to die if the stereo has a bug.

[stephengillie]

The stereo only goes to 11? The stereo in my previous car went to 60.

What's with all the pop culture references in this car? Is this the Ready Tesla One trim package?

[nathantotten]

There isn’t any relationship between your car’s 60 and Tesla’s 11. Tesla’s volume has more than 11 unique volume settings.

https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/reason-why-radio-goes-...

[stephengillie]

The linked forum post doesn't have any more information than your post, other than confirming the pop culture reference.

[ocdtrekkie]

I agree, but to give Elon the benefit of the doubt for a moment, labeling it "Mad Max" may actually discourage people from setting their car to it (as people often perceive themselves to not be reckless), whereas labeling that setting something like "Often" may lead to it being selected more frequently. Of course, this can also backfire if people select "Mad Max" because it's the only one with a funny label.

[olivermarks]

Honestly I'm baffled by how Musk/Tesla get away with all their branded self-driving-but-you-must-always-be-in control messaging and jokey terminology like Mad Max mode etc.

Given how aggressively US DoT enforces safety regulations for vehicles you would have thought there would have been far more pushback, not just on truth in advertising but more importantly road safety for both SD vehicles and the people around them.

Presumably the bureaucrats are asleep and not paying attention, so there is no formal adherence to the levels of self driving that everyone except regulators seem to regularly quote (Toyota et al) https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2017/05/25/...

[quotemstr]

It's a joke, just like the volume control going to 11. Fun is okay. Whimsy is okay. I've never understand why so many people disapprove of little bits of joy scattered throughout the world. Little moments of fun make life a more tolerable experience.

[omarforgotpwd]

Thoughtless criticism like this, even as a joke, is what will prevent us from getting any self driving cars.

There are three modes for how aggressive to be with lane changes. A least aggressive mode, a most aggressive mode, and a middle setting. You can also turn it off completely.

Naming the highest setting Mad Max mode doesn't make that setting more dangerous -- it makes the average car less aggressive by discouraging people from selecting that option. Contrast that with if they called the options "drive super slow", "drive slow" and "normal" without changing the behavior of each setting.