Maybe we have passed the measure. The measure of decency and common sense. And the lack of criticism and reasonableness. In these hours, all the newspapers, even in Italy, with incomprehensible emphasis speak of a miraculous event; the birth of a Tesla baby: the first child born on board an electric car from the company of Elon Musk and this thanks to the miraculous qualities of the car’s assisted driving system (similar to that of its competitors).
The story is the following: a Philadelphia, a driver helps his wife deliver the baby using the system Autopilot. A beautiful Christmas story? Well, the ingredients are all there: the divine Elon, the hut represented by the saving battery-powered car, the miraculous technology, two parents and a son illuminated (by the light of marketing).
Imprudence to be avoided
The first consideration – admitted and not granted that the event occurred with the dynamics described in the various articles found online – is that the new dad driver is unconscious: hands must be kept on the steering wheel, always and in any case also because the assisted driving (like that of all the other cars with level 2 and 3 Adas) warns when the hands are detached after a short period of time and is subsequently disabled. And assuming that this is all true, then it means that the brilliant driver kept pressing the steering wheel to simulate his active presence at the controls.
How is it that Totò said? Ah yes: “But please me!” Here, however, it is not the honorable Trombetta but the ever divine Elon Musk.
Side effects of storytelling
In the worst case, a very dangerous madness has been carried out in Philadelphia (even for the newborn). At best, we are dealing with a well-managed storytelling (perhaps artfully orchestrated) to give visibility to Tesla and the (alleged) magical possibilities of the Californian car and it is something that closely resembles the exaggerations we read years ago when they were circulating fast. the news about a US soldier saved from a bullet deflected by an iPod. Or maybe it was an iPhone? Well, the substance doesn’t change in Christmas fairy tales. With a difference. Playing with cars can be lethal, as evidenced by accidents caused by the distraction associated with using the Autopilot.