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by kuhsaft 245 days ago
An engineer at Ford isn’t developing cars that actively harms passengers.

If you develop weapons, physical or digital, don’t be surprised if you end up on the receiving end.

2 comments

> An engineer at Ford isn’t developing cars that actively harms passengers.

Maybe not at Ford?

https://www.popsci.com/technology/tesla-lock-issue/

Firefighters recently resorted to breaking a Tesla’s window to free a 20-month-old child locked inside after one of the vehicle’s batteries died. The emergency rescue is the second of such incidents reported on this week by Arizona CBS news affiliate KPHO and reiterates the potential dangers of the EV company’s ongoing, under-addressed battery issues in extreme heat.

In July 2023, a 73-year-old man was reportedly forced to kick out a window in his Model Y after becoming trapped. A similar emergency occurred for a mother and her daughter in Illinois a few weeks later after renting a Tesla, while a California driver last month claimed she found herself stuck in her EV while waiting on an over-the-air software update that shut down her car. In the 40 minutes it took to complete the update, outside temperatures rose to 115-degrees Fahrenheit.

And yeah, if you know how, and can go through multiple steps: The only other workaround to battery issues appears to be a step-by-step solution in the owner’s manual that only opens a dead Tesla’s front hood by ostensibly hotwiring the car using external jumper cables. If this is the case, then people who find themselves locked out of their EV may need to continue relying on EMS—and their axes—until Tesla decides to address the glaring safety hazard.

In the cases of the adults stuck inside the cars, aren't there mechanical unlocking handles inside Teslas?
Well, they’re certainly developing cars that kill and maim pedestrians, disperse clouds of microplastics, and contribute excess CO2 to our atmosphere…
Right. I was talking about passenger safety. But sure, if you purposefully designed a vehicle that has poor pedestrian visibility and end up getting hit by that same vehicle due to that poor visibility, you shouldn't be surprised.
I agree that car analogies should be taken seriously.

Sure, cars are useful. But aiming to sell as many cars as possible is no more ethical than selling as many yachts as you can, especially if it involves making the living conditions worse for anyone who doesn't own a yacht, for example by bribing politicians, or destroying non-yacht-capable waterways.