You would have thought a software engineer would have known better
The Tesla autopilot is good but its nowhere near true autonomous driving. I'd trust it to keep me in a lane, following traffic on the freeway, just like other adaptive cruse control systems. I would not trust it to make correct course and speed choices at freeway off ramps. For those of you unfamiliar with California motorway exits, they're characterized by erratic signage, abrupt changes in direction, inconsistent lanes and often poor surfaces. You often find signs on them, yellow diamonds with "Watch for stationary traffic", which is Californiaese for "Blind corner with traffic backed up at a ramp signal ahead, sorry about the (lack of) sight lines". Anyone who comes off at speed without paying serious attention to what's going on is asking for trouble.
I could understand some non-technical person not appreciating the capabilities of the autopilot but I'd expect someone 'in the trade' to know a bit better.