The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration closed a long-running investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot driver-assist system after reviewing hundreds of crashes linked to its misuse, including 13 that were fatal and “many more with serious injuries.” .
At the same time, NHTSA is opening a new investigation to evaluate whether removing Autopilot fixes that problem. Tesla implemented in December It is effective enough.
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation said in documents released Friday that it completed “extensive work” that turned up evidence that “Tesla’s weak driver engagement system was not appropriate for Autopilot’s permissive operating capabilities.”
“This mismatch resulted in a critical safety gap between drivers’ expectations about [Autopilot’s] operational capabilities and the true capabilities of the system,” the agency wrote. “This breach led to foreseeable misuse and preventable accidents.”
The closure of the initial investigation, which began in 2021, marks the end of one of the government’s most visible efforts to examine Tesla’s Autopilot software. The Department of Justice also count the company’s claims about the technology, and the California Department of Motor Vehicles has accused Tesla to falsely advertise Autopilot capabilities and more advanced fully self-driving beta software. Tesla, meanwhile, is we are going now “Balls to the wall for autonomy,” according to CEO Elon Musk.
NHTSA said its investigation reviewed 953 crashes reported through Aug. 30, 2023. In about half (489) of them, the agency said “there was insufficient data to make an assessment” that the other vehicle was at fault. , it was discovered that the autopilot was not in use, or the accident was not related to the probe.
NHTSA said the remaining 467 crashes were divided into three groups. There were many (211) crashes in which “the front plane of the Tesla collided with another vehicle or obstacle with adequate time for an attentive driver to respond to avoid or mitigate the crash. It said 145 accidents involved “road exits in low traction conditions, such as wet roads.” And it said 111 of the crashes involved “road detours where Autosteer was inadvertently disconnected by the driver’s actions.”
Tesla tells drivers they should pay attention to the road and keep their hands on the wheel while using Autopilot, which measures via a torque sensor and, in its newer cars, the in-cabin camera. But NHTSA and other safety groups have said these warnings and controls are not enough. In December, NHTSA said these measures were “insufficient to prevent misuse.”
Tesla agreed to retire the product through a software update that would, in theory, increase driver oversight. But that update didn’t really seem change autopilot a lot – a sentiment that NHTSA appears to agree with.
Parts of that recall solution require the “owner to opt-in,” and Tesla allows a driver to “easily reverse” some of the safeguards, according to NHTSA.
This story is developing…