HOUSTON – Looking to try out a new gig? Tesla might have the perfect opening for you.
The company, spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk, is now looking to hire people to test out its Autopilot feature.
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An ad on the business and employment social media site, LinkedIn, was seeking a test driver in the Houston area. Other ads are posted throughout Texas.
The official title is “Vehicle Operator, Autopilot,” but the job description boils down to driving a car while under Autopilot to collect data.
What is the Autopilot feature?
“Autopilot is an advanced driver assistance system that enhances safety and convenience behind the wheel,” according to a description on Tesla’s website. “When used properly, Autopilot reduces your overall workload as a driver. Each new Tesla vehicle is equipped with multiple external cameras and powerful vision processing to provide an additional layer of safety.”
The software has been under fire following an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
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In a report published in April, NHTSA found Tesla’s Autopilot feature to be responsible for 956 crashes where investigators “observed a trend of avoidable crashes involving hazards that would have been visible to an attentive driver.”
At least 29 of those crashes resulted in fatalities.
NHTSA's Findings On Tesla Autopilot Feature by Gage Goulding on Scribd
Meanwhile, Tesla bills the feature as the “future of driving.”
While Autopilot is “designed to assist you with the most burdensome parts of driving,” the company also says that the feature currently “require(s) active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.”
According to data from Tesla’s own safety report, Tesla vehicles are actually safer while using Autopilot.
Their research shows that drivers using Autopilot drive roughly seven million miles before an accident. That’s more than the approximately 750,000 miles driven by the U.S. average before an accident.
“While no car can prevent all accidents, we work every day to try to make them much less likely to occur,” the company said on its website.
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The job posting in Houston is no longer available. However, there are still job postings on Tesla’s website for Austin, Texas.
