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Tesla Autopilot one step closer to safety recall with escalation of federal investigation


The federal government announced It said on Thursday it was upgrading Tesla’s electric vehicle safety probe in the face of a growing list of incidents — several earlier this year — in which a Tesla vehicle collided with an emergency response vehicle during a crash. when driver assistance mode is active.

What was once a poll — or Preliminary Inquiry — has now been upgraded to Technical Analysis, and the action has essentially been extended to all 830,000 US Tesla vehicles with Autopilot. Lasting from 2014-2022 Tesla Model YModel 3, Model S and Model X vehicles.

The safety agency listed six incidents that occurred between November 2020 and January 2022. The original poll included ten incidents between January 2018 and July 2021.

In these incidents, NHTSA’s Office of Defect Investigations (ODI), reported 14 accidents/fires, 15 injuries, and one death. Tesla in an April 2021 response reported two deaths. But the ODI said that, as part of its investigation, it “also closely reviewed 191 crashes involving crash samples, not limited to the first-response scenes that prompted an open investigation.” out”.

2019 Tesla Model 3

2019 Tesla Model 3

Tesla calls its Autopilot systems — including Navigation on Autopilot — a Level 2 SAE system. Such systems provide acceleration, steering, and braking assistance, but the driver remains responsible. liability for vehicle control and is expected to provide ongoing supervision.

That’s not how many Tesla owners see the feature. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long promoted the system as a safer means of driving — as well as a bridge to unmanned robot—And potentially, a future Independent product focus on an unmanned system.

Based on Tesla’s periodic safety reports, this system provides greater safety. From the company’s most recent fourth quarter of 2021 Autopilot safety updates, it reports one crash for every 4.31 million miles of Autopilot driving. It summarizes: “For drivers not using Autopilot technology (without Autosteer and active safety features), we recorded one crash for every 1.59 million miles driven. By comparison, the most recent NHTSA data shows that in the United States there is an auto accident every 484,000 miles.”

Part of the problem with Autonomous Driving and Emergency Vehicles may stem from the way the system signals that full driver control is required, NHTSA suggests. While Autopilot plays essentially the same role as rival systems like GM’s Super Cruise or Ford’s BlueCruise, owners often point out that the Tesla system is less specific about where it can continue to operate. .

On average in these crashes, Autopilot aborted control of the vehicle less than a second before the first collision, the agency said.

2022 Tesla Model 3

2022 Tesla Model 3

Meanwhile, NHTSA thinks drivers should rely on the system for more assistance. It states that “when there is incident video, first responders’ approach to the scene will be shown to the driver an average of 8 seconds before impact.”

On the other hand, NHTSA states that Level 2 features that require a design review include “the ways in which a driver might interact with the system or the range of foreseeable driver behavior” and Misuse of such systems “does not necessarily eliminate system failure. ”

Tesla recently increased the top speed of the Autopilot version with “Tesla Vision” from 80 mph to 85 mph — a speed at which the car travels about 125 feet per second. Based on Vehicle and Driverit takes 172 feet for the Model 3 Long Range to brake from 70 mph.

The move brings the Autopilot system closer to a recall that will likely be resolved with an over-the-air update. What the recall could mean for a system that is new territory not just for electric cars, but with the ability to update over-the-air. Can the federal government restrict the types of roads or situations in which Autopilot is allowed to operate? Let us know in your comments section below.



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