Campaign

Dan’s mission is to make computers safe for humanity.

Dan O’Dowd is campaigning to make our roads safe by banning Tesla Full Self-Driving.

According to a Dawn Project study, about every 8 minutes, Full Self-Driving commits a Critical Driving Error, which according to the California DMV’s Driving Performance Evaluation is a major error such as:

Making contact with an object when it could have been avoided
Disobeying traffic signs or signals
Disobeying safety personnel or safety vehicles
Making a dangerous manouver that forces others to take evasive action

Additionally, on average, about every 36 minutes of city driving, safety defects in the Full Self-Driving software cause a malfunction in the steering, braking, or throttle, that if not corrected by the driver would likely cause an accident.

Dan is specifically concerned at the speed at which Tesla Full Self-Driving is being brought onto the market. Software typically goes through a Beta testing phase in which it is made available to a chosen cohort. However, for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology, the Beta testing phase is taking place on public roads, relying on the quick reactions of drivers to prevent accidents caused by bugs in the software. These bugs have resulted in vehicles crossing double yellow lines and heading toward oncoming traffic, failing to stop for cars crossing the street, and steering toward metal posts and roadside objects.

Tesla Full Self-Driving “may do the wrong thing at the worst time.”

– The Tesla Full Self-Driving (Beta) 2021.4.10.12 Notes

How can anyone tolerate a “self-driving car” which may do the wrong thing at the worst time. Isn’t that the definition of defective?

Dan understands your concerns about keeping our communities safe. The issue of safety critical software has for too long been neglected by the Government. As a leading technology expert, Dan is uniquely placed to understand and resolve the issue of defective software being tested in public, which is being developed using human guinea pigs (who have paid up to $12,000 each for the privilege!) on our public roads.

Together with your help, we can ensure that this vital issue is heard by politicians and regulators on the national stage.

Dan O’Dowd’s Mission

Dan O’Dowd’s mission is to make computers safe for humanity.

Connecting the power grid, hospitals, and millions of cars to the Internet with software riddled with bugs and security defects has turned these systems into potential weapons of mass destruction at the mercy of hackers.

Ordinary commercial software was never intended to be used in systems which people’s lives depend on.

The first danger Dan is tackling is Elon Musk’s reckless deployment of unsafe Full Self-Driving cars on our roads. Tesla’s FSD software is the most unreliable safety-critical computer system.

Tesla warns their drivers that FSD “might do the wrong thing at the worst time”. This is an unacceptable statement for a vehicle on public roads.

According to a Dawn Project study, Tesla Full Self-Driving malfunctions on average every 8 minutes in city streets. It should be banned from our roads immediately. We did not sign up our families to be Tesla crash test dummies.

Unsafe at Any Speed

“I’m running to draw attention to this important safety issue: Tesla’s Full Self-Driving is defective and should be banned from our roads immediately.”

Dan is applying his expertise in fail-safe technology to stand up to Elon Musk’s reckless deployment of unsafe Full Self-Driving cars on our roads.

Dan is running a nationwide advertising campaign, with an ad showing actual videos of shocking malfunctions in Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software.

A tribute to consumer advocate Ralph Nader’s famous crusade against the auto industry’s resistance to safety measures, Dan’s nationwide ad campaign features harrowing moments where Tesla’s FSD software failed and would have caused an accident had the driver not intervened. Frightened drivers can be heard swearing and gasping in fear.

Tell Congress to shut Tesla FSD down by signing Dan’s petition:

Add your name to join the campaign to ban Tesla Full Self-Driving.

What is Tesla Full Self-Driving?

Tesla Full Self-Driving is the automaker’s experimental Beta software, trialling driverless cars on public roads.

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving is currently available as a Beta product, meaning that it is still being tested and the software is far from being ready for safe use on our public roads.

Tesla Full Self-Driving is separate from Tesla’s Autopilot function, which only works in specific situations and relies more heavily on human driver judgement and engagement.

This experimental Beta software relies on external cameras and sensors in an attempt to detect obstacles, vehicles, road markings and most crucially, pedestrians, rather than the judgement of its driver. Most decisions, such as controlling speed, are made by the vehicle’s computer, without the driver’s input.

Tesla vehicles with the Full Self-Driving Beta installed operate with extremely little driver input, and can be used in suburbs, at high speeds on highways and in complex urban environments, all of which present different sets of hazards and dangers. Tesla FSD will attempt high speed lane changes, automatically select off-ramps and even switch freeways, all without any human input.

Tesla Full Self-Driving Beta software is already being tested on our roads and on unwilling American citizens.

Tesla are taking advantage of their customers to pilot this experimental Beta software across the United States and Canada.

The latest Full Self-Driving Beta version represents a major increase in the number of these Teslas.

Whether on 70mph interstates or in crowded residential areas, Tesla is using real-life situations to test an unfinished product, and using the American public as potential crash test dummies.

Tesla Full Self-Driving is available to customers that Tesla has considered “safe drivers”, based on data collected and analyzed by Tesla themselves. If Tesla deems a driver to be safe, they can purchase the Beta software update for $199 a month, or $12,000 up front.

Tesla is putting their software, and profits, before the safety of American drivers, pedestrians and families.