NHTSA Sensitivity to the Concerns about the Use of Autosteer on Automated Vehicles and Implications for System Safety
NHTSA has dispatched investigators to 35 Tesla crashes since 2016 in which the agency suspects the vehicles were running on an automated system. Several people have been killed.
“In certain circumstances when Autosteer is engaged, the prominence and scope of the feature’s controls may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse,” the agency said in the recall statement, noting that this could lead to an “increased risk of a collision.”
The agency says its investigation found Autopilot’s method of ensuring that drivers are paying attention can be inadequate and “can lead to foreseeable misuse of the system.”
The software update includes additional controls and alerts “to further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility,” the documents said.
Autopilot includes features called Autosteer and Traffic Aware Cruise Control, with Autosteer intended for use on limited access freeways when it’s not operating with a more sophisticated feature called Autosteer on City Streets.
Auto safety advocates for years have been calling for stronger regulation of the driver monitoring system, which mainly detects whether a driver’s hands are on the steering wheel.
The Tesla Autopilot System’s Prescription for Driving: A Comment on the NHTSA’s Commitment to Protect a Self-Driving Car
The literature says that the autopilot system is intended to be used with a fully attentive driver. It doesn’t make a car autonomously or turn a car into a self-driving car. Although it can do things such as accelerate and brake in a lane, it cannot drive for you.
In its statement Wednesday, NHTSA said the Tesla investigation remains open “as we monitor the efficacy of Tesla’s remedies and continue to work with the automaker to ensure the highest level of safety.”
A robot expert who wrote a paper evaluating the risks ofTesla’s Autopilot system said, “It’s progress but minimal progress.”
As a senior advisor for safety at the NHTSA, Cummings wasn’t convinced that this will be enough to prevent future incidents. “It’s very vague,” she said.
He said that this compromise will avoid another year of negotiation between NHTSA and the manufacturer of the car. The remedy won’t be as strong as NHTSA would like to see.
The camera, which only went into use for autopilot driver monitoring in 2021, isn’t working in low light conditions. Other cars use similar technologies that can work in low-light situations. Consumer Reports demonstrated recently that it was possible to get the camera to think that someone was in the driver’s seat.
