“Robotaxi has panicked a little”: an employee forced to regain the wheel in full traffic

The future according to Elon Musk had to look like this: driver -free cars, which slide in the streets, while you get on your phone. In Austin, Tesla is currently testing this dream in real conditions. But a detail betrays the staging: A human is always on board. Simply moved.

Tesla Robotaxi: a supervisor forced to take the steering wheel in full traffic

Installed on the passenger side, the supervisor keeps a finger on an emergency stop switch. He does not drive. Officially, he does nothing. But in fact, he is always ready to intervene. And sometimes he does. The video of a test, published by Ark Invest (an ultra -exposed fund to Tesla) documents this embarrassing scene. Or rather, she summarizes it, because the crucial moment is cut.

Around 5 minutes 46, the Robotaxi is engaged in a left turn. He hesitates, becomes “skittish”(Nervous), then stops. Activated distress fires. The supervision center at first tries to relaunch the system, without success. The supervisor, always on the passenger side, then asks to regain hands. He goes down, bypass the vehicle in full circulation, settles on the driver’s side and ends the race. This central scene does not appear in the image. The spectator goes from a vehicle blocked at a quiet arrival in the park. Tented afterwards, in a low voice, almost as a technical detail.

“The supervisor is out, went to settle on the driver’s side, and led me to the park”slides one of the passengers.

A façade autonomy, very real incidents

And this scene is not an isolated accident. For several weeks, incidents are accumulating: A vehicle that crushes a children’s model During a filmed test, another stuck in a parking lot incapable of backinga Dangerous maneuver passed over in silenceBecause of a legal vagueness … These vehicles are not alone. They are disguised.

The choice to place the supervisor on the right, without steering wheel, without pedal, is not a technical decision. It is a marketing operation. In California, it would be illegal, but in Texas, it is accepted. We move the out of scope to better sell the fantasy.

But what this incident reveals is not a simple technical bug. It is a well -assumed strategy: to make believe that autonomy is there, while it is still based on human crutches. Behind the tinted windows, there is always someone ready to intervene. The illusion works … as long as the car is not mistaken.