YouTube doesn't want you to test your Tesla's FSD on children

A Tesla investor named Tad Park (also CEO of Volt Equity) tested the EV’s Autopilot and “full self-driving” (FSD) beta software with his children standing in front of the car. Park then uploaded the video titled “Does Tesla Full-Self Driving Beta really run over kids?” on YouTube. And while it seemed to be the most brilliant way to prove the efficiency of the technology, YouTube took it down, stressing it doesn’t allow “content showing a minor participating in dangerous activities or encouraging minors to do dangerous activities” or “put minors in harmful situations that may lead to injury, including dangerous stunts, dares, or pranks.”

Does Tesla Full Self-Driving Beta really run over kids?

Thanks to @MinimalDuck and @_tadpark for your help on this! @elonmusk @RealDanODowdhttps://t.co/A1Pq1LkDyQ pic.twitter.com/bR19cVkWcL

— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) August 14, 2022

In a report by CNBC, Park said that “the car recognized the kid,” and the test was performed with a Tesla Model 3 running no more than eight miles an hour. “I’ve tried FSD beta before, and I’d trust my kids’ life with them,” Park said in the video, which was uploaded on Whole Mars Catalog’s YouTube channel. “So I’m very confident that it’s going to detect my kids, and I’m also in control of the wheel so I can brake at any time.”

The video posted on August 14 showing Park driving on a San Francisco road garnered 60,000 views on YouTube before it was removed. And although it is now unavailable, you can still be viewed through some uploads on Twitter. In total, there are two videos with the same content removed on the platform.

Our new safety test of @ElonMusk’s Full Self-Driving Teslas discovered that they will indiscriminately mow down children.

Today @RealDawnProject launches a nationwide TV ad campaign demanding @NHTSAgov ban Full Self-Driving until @ElonMusk proves it won’t mow down children. pic.twitter.com/i5Jtb38GjH

— Dan O'Dowd (@RealDanODowd) August 9, 2022

Aside from aiming to prove the competence of the FSD, the videos seemed to be a response deterring an ad from the Dawn Project showing a Tesla vehicle running over a child-sized dummy on the road. 

“Our new safety test of ElonMusk’s Full Self-Driving Teslas discovered that they will indiscriminately mow down children,” tweeted Dan O’Dowd, Dawn Project Founder and software expert, who created secure operating systems for projects like Boeing’s 787s, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Fighter Jets, the Boeing B1-B Intercontinental Nuclear Bomber, and NASA’s Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. “Today RealDawnProject launches a nationwide TV ad campaign demanding NHTSAgov ban Full Self-Driving until ElonMusk proves it won’t mow down children.”

In relation to that, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) warned the public in a Bloomberg report about involving their children in testing their vehicles. “No one should risk their life, or the life of anyone else, to test the performance of vehicle technology,” NHTSA told Bloomberg. “Consumers should never attempt to create their own test scenarios or use real people, and especially children, to test the performance of vehicle technology.”