Tesla fanatic asks to use a real child to test crash-avoidance tech

A Tesla fanatic in the US has made an extra-ordinary request to test Tesla's controversial semi-autonomous technology on a real child – as the car maker remains subject to several probes by safety regulators.

Diehard Tesla fans have jumped to the defence of the electric car's semi-autonomous driving software in the wake of numerous investigations into serious injury and fatal crashes linked to the technology.

Now one Tesla driver has requested via social media for a child to be used to prove the effectiveness of Tesla safety technology – known as Full Self-Driving (FSD) – following a series of videos criticising the system.

While many assumed the initial request was a hoax, it appears as if the test could be going ahead in the coming days, with one couple supposedly volunteering their child for the task.

Attack ads published recently by The Dawn Project – an initiative of "safety-critical software" advocate Dan O'Dowd – claims to show the car’s autonomous driving software failing to recognise a simulated pedestrian, resulting in a child-sized mannequin being struck by the Tesla.

Proponents of the technology say the video shows Full Self Driving mode was not properly engaged during the test, taking to social media platform Twitter to dispute the allegations and post videos of the system successfully recognising and avoiding pedestrian crashes.

An avid Tesla fan with around 130,000 followers, known as Whole Mars Catalog, sparked debate by asking his audience for a child who can run out in front of the car to prove the technology works as intended.

“This is completely safe as there will be a human in the car,” they said in a follow-up tweet, later adding the test would be performed at five miles per hour.

“Okay someone volunteered… they just have to convince their wife,” they wrote, before confirming “mom is on board as we explained how safe it will be”.

Another video posted on YouTube in recent days, this time created by the channel TechGeek Tesla, simulates a child running across the road in front of a Model 3 using a dummy.

While the car appears to recognise garbage bins, it doesn’t identify the dummy – nor the man’s three children who are at the roadside.

“I just destroyed Dan O'Dowd's ad with a cardboard child – not only did the Tesla visualise the child but it went around each time," another person wrote on Twitter, with an accompanying video of the technology working as intended.

The test using a real child is expected to take place this weekend, as Tesla fans and critics continue the debate by providing tit-for-tat video evidence to support their respective arguments.