Who Invited Tesla To Offer Free (Supervised) Rides In Their Driverless Car, The Latest Oktoberfest Tradition?

Were you among the brave and fortunate few to take a ride in a "supervised" driverless Tesla during the Upper Depot Brewery's Oktoberfest celebration on Saturday? No, me neither!

According to the city's Mass Gathering Permit issued for the event, "Hudson Oktoberfest is an annual family-friendly festival celebrating New York craft breweries, local food, live music and Oktoberfest traditions." That line was written by Aaron Maas of the Upper Depot. Did he invite Tesla to his festival? Or did Tesla invite Tesla to the brewery's Oktoberfest celebration?  It seems to me that if you are going to offer free rides (including to children) on city streets in a driverless car, you ought to mention it in the application for the permit you are hoping to be issued to have your beer party.  And if I'm mayor Ferris, I'm going to ask Aaron Maas, "Why the hell did you allow Tesla to offer free rides in one of their self-driving cars, and when did you sign them up?  What on earth does riding in a driverless car have to do with Oktoberfest?  Is there a reason you failed to mention this little detail in your permit application for your beer fest?  How many free rides around town did Tesla "advisors" make, and how many children were involved in those rides?  And how much did Tesla pay you to allow their "advisors" and their autonomous car to be part of your beer party?  Maybe next year's permit for your beer party won't be so easy to come by."

Alas, mayor Ferris probably thought it was a wonderful idea to finally have free rides in a Tesla for children and adults with no one touching the steering wheel! Whoopie!  Ain't life a festival!  More beer, please.

 

The sign reads:  Experience Full Self-Driving (Supervised).  Now available to Demo Drive.  Speak with a Tesla advisor for assistance.

The 4 "advisors" were all white (3 men, one woman) and all clad in black clothing -- shoes, pants, shirt.  I half expected Elon Musk to be one of them.  I heard one of the "advisors" ask a passerby if she wanted to take a test ride.  She wasn't interested.

Here are some more shots from the fest, from the intersection of 7th & State, where eastbound State traffic was forced to turn.  Safety was the last thing on everyone's mind, including HPD's.

Waiting in the ticket line.

Also in the permit application, Aaron Haas wrote this in section h, titled Security:  "Hudson police officer at the corner of 7th/State." I walked by 7th & State five times on Saturday while the festival was happening -- twice in the morning and three times in the afternoon -- and never once saw a Hudson cop there.  Was there really supposed to be a Hudson cop standing at the intersection of 7th & State on Saturday for 9 hours (10:30 -7:30), perhaps directing traffic that had only one way to go?  Apparently, yes.  It said so on the application that mayor Ferris, Rob Perry and Mishanda Franklin all approved and signed to allow the festival to take place, free driverless Tesla rides around town and all.  All of it "supervised," of course!