Tesla: 273 vehicle collisions since July, involving the use of driver assistance systems

Tesla Inc reported 273 vehicle collisions since July, involving the use of driver assistance systems. This is the largest number of incidents of any other car industry, according to data released yesterday by the competent supervisory authorities.

Vehicle manufacturers and technology companies have reported more than 500 incidents since June 2021, when the U.S. Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued an order requesting details of the incident. Two senators called for an in-depth investigation into the “autonomous driving” industry, and a road safety committee ruled that the data had not been standardized, making it difficult to assess the actual performance of each manufacturer’s system.

Car companies are rushing to integrate driver-assisted vehicle control systems, arguing that these systems improve safety by handling some driving maneuvers. For their part, the relevant services try to understand the practical result of the attempted changes.

However, manufacturers collect data in different ways, making it difficult for competent systems to evaluate the performance of their systems.

Democratic senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal told the NHTSA in a letter that the data alone was not enough. “We urge NHTSA to … illuminate this out-of-control industry and impose safeguards to prevent more deadly conflicts,” the letter said.

This report contains “a series of data with many limitations that make it difficult” to understand the data, said Jennifer Hometi, chair of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), in a statement.

“Tesla is collecting a large amount of high-quality data, which may mean that it is being presented improperly in the NHTSA report,” she said.

Tesla’s state-of-the-art driver assistance software, promoted as a “Full Self Driving” system, also causes confusion about vehicle capabilities.

The senators are worried about the large number of incidents and the involvement of Tesla vehicles. “We are concerned that some drivers today are using technology as a convenience, putting themselves and others on the road at risk,” Senators Markey and Blumenthal wrote in their letter.

NHTSA required companies to report immediately all incidents, including technologically advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), as well as equipping vehicles with automated driver systems that will be tested on the public road network.

Of the 392 incidents reported by twelve vehicle manufacturers since July, six deaths and five serious injuries have been reported. Honda Motor recorded 90 incidents.

The manufacturers reported 130 incidents involving prototype autonomous driving systems, while in 108 of them, no injuries were recorded, with serious injuries being recorded in only one incident.

Honda Motor recorded 90 incidents, while Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo autonomous driving division reported 62 incidents, involving automated driving systems. General Motors Cruise recorded 23 incidents.

Waymo announced that the incidents it recorded did not pose a high risk to the safety of drivers, while 1/3 of them took place under conventional driving conditions. Vehicle airbags were developed in only two cases.

SOURCE: AMPE