Struggling to keep drivers of automated cars engaged
AFTER partially faulting Tesla’s automation system for a 2016 fatal crash, US safety investigators last year called on carmakers to do more to ensure drivers stay engaged as next- generation cars start to steer themselves.
The National Transportation Safety Board has since opened investigations of three cases, two involving Tesla vehicles, that call into question the progress that’s been made in guarding against motorist misuse of semiautonomous driving technology.
Tesla, a pioneer in driverassistance technology with its Autopilot system, has lagged carmakers including General Motors in embracing driver monitoring.
While the electric carmaker still relies on technology that federal investigators said was too easy to sidestep, it’s now working on unspecified improvements to its vehicles, according to the NTSB.
“They have indicated that they have already made some improvements and are working on additional improvements,” agency spokesman Peter Knudson said in the first indication that the company is contemplating more changes to its driver- assistance system. NTSB highway investigators have been in contact with Tesla technical staff, he added.
A Tesla spokeswoman declined to comment on the NTSB’s recommendations for improved driver monitoring.
The difficulty of keeping drivers in automated vehicles engaged — combined with the broader safety benefits of ensuring that drivers in traditional vehicles aren’t peering at electronic devices or nodding off — is a growing safety concern that’s spurred several car companies, including GM and Subaru, to deploy infrared cameras in the cockpit trained on the driver to track head and eye movement.
The NTSB is investigating two crashes this year in which Tesla drivers were using Autopilot. The system can automate steering and follow traffic in some conditions, but the company warns drivers they must monitor it at all times. The system isn’t designed to be fully autonomous and can’t detect some objects in its path, according to the NTSB.
On Mar 23 a Model X slammed into a concrete highway barrier in Mountain View, California, killing driver Walter Huang, 38. His family has hired Minami Tamaki to explore legal options, the firm said Wednesday in a statement.
Tesla said in a blog post last month that Huang didn’t have his hands on the wheel for six seconds before striking the barrier where lanes split on the freeway.
“The driver had received several visual and one audible hands- on warning earlier in the drive,” the company said in the Mar 30 blog post.
In a Wednesday statement, Tesla again pinned responsibility for the crash on Huang, saying that “the only way for this accident to have occurred is if Mr Huang was not paying attention to the road, despite the car providing multiple warnings to do so.” — Bloomberg
The driver had received several visual and one audible hands-on warning earlier in the drive. Tesla statement