Tesla Allows Texting While Using FSD In Certain Situations … But Takes No Liability – CleanTechnica

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Last month during Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting, Elon Musk noted that Tesla will soon allow texting while using FSD (“Full Self Driving”). This should potentially be a huge a step forward. Did Tesla want to allow human drivers to completely stop supervising the car in FSD mode and do things like text or watch a movie? Should Tesla have taken legal and financial responsibility at this time?

Naturally, as it turned out, the statement seemed to imply more than the reality would deliver. The hype was bigger than the upcoming ability. According to Elon Musk’s response to Tesla drivers on X/Twitter yesterday, people with FSD enabled will be able to send text messages “depending on the surrounding traffic context.” And being able to do that means Tesla won’t give you a warning or kick you out of FSD. It does not mean that Tesla will assume any liability. You are still in charge of the car.

“By freeing up the driver monitoring system to avert eyes in certain traffic conditions, Tesla effectively deploys Level 3 autonomy. But there is a major catch: unlike competitors who offer similar features within extremely tight limits, Tesla does not accept responsibility. This creates a dangerous gap. The car gives you the privilege of a brief distraction, but you retain 100% of the risk,” not a tesla app writes.

“The behavior that Elon describes—allowing phone use in specific, system-approved contexts—is similar to Mercedes-Benz’s Drive Pilot, which is certified as an L3 system on certain stretches of highway in California.

“When Drive Pilot is active (below 40mph traffic jams, no adverse weather, vehicle in front and no structure), Mercedes explicitly informs the driver that they can watch videos or text – and that responsibility remains with Mercedes for as long as the system is active.

So wait… Tesla is behind Mercedes in this regard? At least Mercedes is taking responsibility in the limited situations where you can use its version of Autopilot/Full Self Driving, but as far as we can tell, Tesla isn’t taking an iota of responsibility.

If that’s all Elon Musk was referring to, it’s pretty disappointing. If Tesla doesn’t plan to let you use your phone a substantial amount of the time, and more importantly, take no responsibility while you’re using it, it’s pretty much meaningless in terms of increasing consumer demand and increasing sales.

Also note that in some states (such as Florida and Texas) it is legal to use the phone while the vehicle is stopped (eg at a red light), but in other states it is illegal to use the phone even when the car is stopped. So watch out.

“This creates a trap for the owner. Your Tesla might not bother you for texting in Los Angeles traffic, implicitly telling you it’s safe. But if a cop sees you, you’ll still get a ticket. The officer doesn’t care what version of FSD you’re using, just that you’re holding a phone, which remains illegal.” Really.