Tesla to supply extra information on its driver alert system amid Autopilot probe

U.S. regulators have requested extra info from Tesla to help of their ongoing investigation into 830,000 Tesla automobiles that embrace Autopilot, the automaker’s superior driver help system.

The Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) despatched Tesla a letter on July 3 looking for up to date responses to questions it had requested in August 2022. These have been particularly associated to Tesla’s cabin digicam and driver monitoring system, which the automaker says can decide if a driver isn’t paying consideration and ship them noise alerts as a reminder to maintain their eyes on the highway whereas Autopilot is engaged. NHTSA additionally requested for details about how Tesla generates its quarterly security stories.

The company has given Tesla a deadline of July 19 to reply its questions with present knowledge. Tesla couldn’t be reached for remark.

Since 2016, NHTSA has opened 41 Tesla particular crash investigations the place Autopilot was suspected of getting used, in accordance with knowledge collected till December 2022. Inside these crashes, 19 deaths have been reported.

Autopilot has sure automated driving options, like the flexibility to steer, speed up and brake robotically inside a lane on a freeway. Enhanced Autopilot can help in altering lanes, too. The most recent model of Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” beta software program (FSD) combines these capabilities with metropolis driving options like responding to site visitors indicators and cease indicators and making turns. Nevertheless, neither Autopilot nor FSD is totally self-driving, and Tesla warns drivers to take care of alertness in case they should take over the car.

Regardless of these warnings, Tesla has been repeatedly sued and criticized over its deceptive advertising, which critics say provides drivers a false sense of safety within the car’s capabilities and causes inattention.

NHTSA mentioned in 2022, 9 of 11 automobiles concerned in crashes didn’t interact the driving force by way of visible or audio alerts till the final minute earlier than a collision, and 4 confirmed no visible or audio alerts in any respect. The letter asks for updates from Tesla on adjustments made to its driver engagement or attentiveness methods. It additionally asks for knowledge on the variety of automobiles with “Tesla Imaginative and prescient” — automobiles geared up with cameras and no different sensors — and if these automobiles even have the cabin digicam system.

Tesla launched its camera-based driver monitoring system in Could 2021. Beforehand, the automaker had relied on a system that would detect when a driver’s palms have been on the steering wheel to find out driver alertness. This turned a straightforward system to bypass, particularly as drivers started buying so-called “Tesla weights” from e-commerce websites like Alibaba.