How many other cars semi-autonomously drive you around on highways? And of the ones that do, which make a real effort to monitor the driver for attentiveness?
It would be impossible with the vast majority of cars on the road, and of new models for sale, to play an iPhone game 2 handed and still control the car at highway speed (or any speed). So no, he doesn't die sooner in any other car. He simply wouldn't have attempted to win the Darwin award at all.
Secondly, given an unattentive driver, which current driver assist features on the market would have misunderstood the highway gore at that part of Highway 101/85 ? I also assign the driver primary responsibility for his death, but you have zero proof Cadillac Super Cruise or any other L2 system steers the car into death and destruction.
Finally, the NTSB report also faults Apple for doing nothing to prevent people from actively using their iPhones while driving. While this is more a problem for the automakers to solve, smartphone makers can and should consider ways to prevent drivers from using their phones.
It's a tricky situation:
1. It's Autopilot's fault that it crashed the crash & killed the drive. It did not perform as designed. Note that software is still a WIP (beta).
2. Legally, it's the driver's fault. Also, yes, he should have known better, but there's more to that story (in a minute).
3. Market forces have created what I call the "Lull of Complacency": as humans, we are habit-driven creatures, which means we have mental files on how things work & have worked in the past. Autopilot Beta is good enough that it works
most of the time. The problem with that is our brains create a habit out of it, and in the event of a problem...we rely on our habit, which can kill us in this case. Every single Tesla owner I know IRL has admitted to playing with their phone while driving, because you just get used to it. It's not the programmer's fault, because they are being paid to write software. Musk is under pressure from the market to get it out the door & make it name-brand. The process itself is iterative & requires extensive testing, which is what the giant beta program is for.
I do hold Tesla accountable for putting out software that kills people without having more safety nets in place, like attention tracking via a camera. And I also hold the drivers responsible, because they know going in it's a beta program & they need to stay alert...but Tesla has set a trap for them to easily fall into. They could put in geofencing so you can't use it on back roads, and driver-alert systems, and so on, but they also don't want it to be so cumbersome that people don't easily adopt it. And if we're being honest here, very few people who drive a Tesla have no idea what the car is capable of...you're making an expensive decision that requires a home charging infrastructure, phone integration, etc., so it's not like drivers are going in blind & paying $7,000 without realizing it's not fully-baked software.
4. The beta program is an easy legal get-out-of-jail-free card. Tesla will 100% disown you as soon as something bad happens, just read up on any Tesla forum out there - "too bad, it's beta, you knew what you were getting into, you should have paid attention, it's risky!". Case in point:
I'm a huge Tesla fanboy, but I also don't look at them through rose-colored glasses:
1. They are expensive. Even a basic Model 3 with AP is going to run you $40k+. Plus a charger for home use. Plus annual fees for the Premium services.
2. They are a hassle. You can't fill up an empty tank in 2 minutes at any gas station anywhere in the country.
3. You can't get a human on the phone. Takes forever. Customer service is really crappy right now.
4. If you get in an accident, get damage, or otherwise have problems, the service centers are super backed up.
5. Tesla will absolutely throw you to the wolves & wash their hands of you should you have a "beta" software issue, like an accident. When push comes to shove, they will 100% not have your back.
Now, is that the end of the world? Not really, it's just whether those parameters are acceptable to you or not. If you can afford the car, if you can afford the downtime, if the battery life works into your regular routine, and if you stay alert & attentive to the machine while in FSD mode, then it's a pretty awesome car to have. The majority of Tesla owners I know reach Apple levels of happiness with their products - it makes their lives better & they really enjoy owning & driving their machines. Every vehicle & every car brand has their warts, it's more of a matter of what you're personally willing to put up with. Corvettes are terrible cars...no room, scrape on everything...but if you like Corvettes, then you're willing to put up with the hassles!
As far as playing games in the car, that's an incredibly tricky problem to solve. How do you determine if the driver is using the phone & not the passenger, for example? Like, I plug my phone into my car for Carplay, but my wife will act as navigator with the phone in her hand while connected. This is partly why I feel there's such a big need for true FSD...people make super-dumb decisions while operating 2-ton metal vehicles. One of the reasons I stopped road biking was because a lady in a stationwagon nicked me & grazed my biking buddy, which caused him to fall into a ditch. I tried waving her down to get her attention, but she was multi-tasking...putting on makeup & on her phone & driving. People are irresponsible at times...if we could automate driving to negate that issue, that would be amazing!