William Gallagher
In what is perhaps the most obvious government proclamation ever, the US Secretary for Transportation has stepped in to remind drivers that they must be "fully engaged" after more footage emerges of an Apple Vision Pro being used behind the wheel.
It didn't take long for a Tesla driver to decide to risk his and other people's safety by using an Apple Vision Pro while driving. At least in that case, the Tesla car had driver assistance — but now the Secretary of Transportation has released video of an even more dangerous example.
Reminder— ALL advanced driver assistance systems available today require the human driver to be in control and fully engaged in the driving task at all times. pic.twitter.com/OpPy36mOgC
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) February 5, 2024
The video shared on Twitter by Secretary Pete Buttigieg shows a driver performing quite intricate hand movements to control the Apple Vision Pro he's wearing. What's most significant, however, is that he is doing this while driving a Tesla Cybertruck.
Unlike other Teslas, the Cybertruck has no self-driving features. So he's driving a car that weighs at least three tons, and assuming this isn't a skit, the driver is sufficiently distracted that he doesn't notice being filmed.
Consequently there is no difference between his driving this Cybertruck and any other car. If the car did have driver assistance, though, his vision would still be impaired — and the car could hand back control at any moment.
The footage was shared in a tweet by Secretary Pete Buttigieg who presumably assumed the Tesla Cybertruck had driver assistance. Secretary Buttigieg has not commented further and it isn't known what happened to this particular driver.
While Apple has not commented on this specific incident, it has all along stressed that Apple Vision Pro should only be worn in a safe place.
"Never use Apple Vision Pro while operating a moving vehicle, bicycle, heavy machinery," its support documentation says, "or in any other situations requiring attention to safety."
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Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
Andrew Orr
19 Comments
People are just so dumb that a warning like this is even needed.
Weird how no warning was ever needed for people to not drive while wearing a Meta Quest.
Darwin strikes again
Where would we be without Secretary Pete Buttigieg? I shudder to think.
Given how many people I see using their phones (mostly in their hands) while driving and while biking, I expect this to be an issue that won’t go away until there’s a unit you can use while piloting a vehicle of some kind. Having a heads up display in these situations, if they can enhance safety, would be a good thing. [NOTE: Boston has more shitty, inattentive, red-light blowing, willfully endangering others drivers and riders, than any other place I’ve been. Including the NY metro area and suburbs. Too many people lean into being a “masshole” when they get on the road. I pray for the day when people can no longer drive/ride without an AI minder.] (I’m sure there will be comments after this insisting that it’s a right to be a shitty driver/rider, or that they personally are the best driver/rider in the world, or some other such nonsense. You’re not. Your’re a shitty, distracted, entitled driver like everyone else. And the sooner we remove humans from the driver’s seat, the better.)