Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not really. He sure isn't expected to be able to jump in with less than a second's notice to override what autopilot is doing. And he typically isn't there to make sure the autopilot isn't doing something stupid. He's there to watch for conditions that the autopilot can't handle...and those typically have plenty of warning time in a plane. And a pilot is a trained professional. The expectation that the driver will ju…
When on a plane there's a "Ground" alert, pilot is supposed to act immediately to prevent a crash. He cannot be absent from the cabin and he cannot finish the game level on his smartphone first. The same is with the car, that is not sold as fully autonomous: if you are on the driver seat, you are responsible for making the final decisions on steering and braking, not a technology. Technology may help you and prevent…
Seriously though....I doubt it. The report said he was told to put his hands back on the wheel "earlier in the drive". I seriously doubt he would have had time to react in this case. This is not the same as a plane...there was no "ground alert" or anything like it. From what I can tell, it was doing its job then steered right into a wall. That sort of thing simply doesn't happen with a plane....when autopilot is active on a plane, there is never a situation that requires instantly noticing something is wrong, and correcting it, within a few seconds. Never.
And usability bugs, if that is what you want to call this, are indeed Tesla's fault. They, not the driver, have the resources to test and understand how human attention works (i.e. "vigilance deficit" / "handoff problem")