Following news of a fatal crash involving a Model S operated in Autopilot mode, Tesla Motors and its outspoken CEO Elon Musk have faced intense scrutiny over the feature. Feds examine how Tesla Autopilot reacts to crossing trafficFederal investigators looking into electric auto maker Tesla Motors’ Autopilot system after a fatal crash in Florida are zeroing in on the limitations of the system and how it reacts when obstacles cross its path.
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In a response to Consumer Reports, the company says its Autopilot system has logged 130 million miles with just one fatality, and that its beta software had millions of miles of internal testing before it was publicly deployed.
“This is contrary to the terms of use that are agreed to when enabling the feature and the notification presented in the instrument cluster each time it is activated”.
The automatic steering portion of Autopilot – which steers, accelerates and brakes Tesla vehicles automatically on lane-marked highways – should be deactivated “until it can be reprogrammed to require drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel”, Consumer Reports said. Even though Autopilot does caution drivers to hold the steering wheel it’s possible for the feature to do its thing even when both hands are off the steering wheel.
Tesla has always stated that even with AutoPilot engaged, the driver is “still responsible for, and ultimately in control of, the vehicle”, but Consumer Reports feels as though Tesla’s messaging is confusing consumers by saying things like, “your Autopilot has arrived”. The spokeswoman said that road conditions can become uncertain therefore the system indicated the driver to remain alert and put his hands on the wheel. Tesla for its part has said that it will try to re-educate customers on what Autopilot is, and arguably of more importance, what it isn’t. Ironically, the same magazine had praised Tesla’s autopilot system as having “worked quite well” in its October review.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating the May 7 crash and death in Florida of a Model S driver who was using Autopilot.
Yet Laura MacCleery, Consumer Reports’ vice president of consumer policy, said naming the system Autopilot gives drivers a false sense of security.
Since then, the company has been on the defensive as road-safety advocates called for Tesla to scale back the driving software, or be more explicit in its warnings about the technology. Google, which has always been a proponent of a completely hands-free approach to self-driving cars wherein there’s no confusion over who is in control, found that people are quick to rely heavily on technology once they see it works even in a limited capacity.
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Consumer Reports said that the Autopilot name promotes a potentially unsafe assumption that the Model S is capable of driving on its own. However, she underlines that there are concerns over the “unproven technology”. The second message: you may need to take over the controls at a moment’s notice.
