Last year we reported on a fatal crash in America, wherein a Tesla whose braggart owner misused the car’s (arguably oversold)”Autopilot” features crashed into a truck trailer. Now the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have completed their investigation, and they’ve exonerated the car and its systems. NHTSA’s report says the agency’s examination:
“…did not identify any defects in the design or performance of the AEB or Autopilot systems of the subject vehicles nor any incidents in which the systems did not perform as designed. AEB systems used in the automotive industry through MY 2016 are rear-end collision avoidance technologies that are not designed to reliably perform in all crash modes, including crossing path collisions. The Autopilot system is an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) that requires the continual and full attention of the driver to monitor the traffic environment and be prepared to take action to avoid crashes. Tesla’s design included a hands-on the steering wheel system for monitoring driver engagement. That system has been updated to further reinforce the need for driver engagement through a “strike out” strategy. Drivers that do not respond to visual cues in the driver monitoring system alerts may “strike out” and lose Autopilot function for the remainder of the drive cycle. A safety-related defect trend has not been identified at this time and further examination of this issue does not appear to be warranted. Accordingly, this investigation is closed.”
NHTSA further noted that crash rates involving Tesla cars have dropped by almost 40 percent since the wide deployment of Autopilot, but did leave the door open for further scrutiny of ADAS functions and systems. The findings are being viewed with relief throughout the industry, and an article in Business Insider suggests over-the-air car updates could eventually streamline or perhaps even avoid the need for some kinds of safety recalls.
