To help alleviate the increasing number of accidents, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been making efforts to examine the safety of advanced driving systems.
From July 1, last year, till May 15, six people in 382 incidents died, with five seriously injured. In addition, Tesla vehicles that use Autopilot or other associated features were involved in 273 crashes. Five of the Tesla crashes were serious.
Last year, an NHTSA order required carmakers to report crashes involving cars with advanced driver-assistance systems. Matthew Wansley, a professor of Law, commends the order. However, he notes that the NHTSA has been passive about autonomous vehicles until now.
According to NHTSA administrator Steven Cliff, the collected data “will help our investigators quickly identify potential defect trends that emerge.” Cliff also said that the data would be used to guide the technologies’ rules and design requirements.
The Controversies Around Driver-Assistance Technology
A driver-assist system can use the steering, brake, and accelerate vehicles by itself. Drivers, however, need to be alert to retake control when they need to. Advanced technology like this sounds perfect, so what could be the problem?
According to safety experts, driver-assist systems taking control of a car can be dangerous. “As drivers give up control, they are at risk once the technology malfunctions or they face a situation they cannot handle. In that instance, a driver may not be able to react on time and take control,” says personal injury attorney Jan Dils.
In the U.S., about 830,000 Tesla cars are equipped with Autopilot or other driver-assistance technologies. Considering the vehicles accounted for almost 70 percent of the reported crashes in the aforementioned data, perhaps the safety concerns are valid.
Similarly, Ford Motor, General Motors, and BMW, among others, have advanced systems that allow conditional hands-free driving. While fewer of those models were sold, the companies have sold millions of other cars equipped with individual components of driver-assistance systems. These components include lane-keeping and adaptive cruise control.
Another look at NHTSA’s release shows that Honda vehicles were involved in 90 incidents. Subarus were involved in 19, while Ford, G.M., BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai, and Porsche reported five or fewer. Waymo, owned by Google’s parent company, was part of 62 incidents. Cruise, a division of G.M., was part of 23. Notedly, the cars using the automated systems were not involved in fatal crashes.
How Tesla’s Autopilot Prompted the NHTSA’s Decision
Crashes involving Teslas over the last six years are one of the reasons for the NHTSA’s order to submit crash data. The agency sought to see if Tesla’s Autopilot technology had design flaws that may be risky.
The NHTSA has been investigating 35 crashes where Autopilot was activated. The agency has also been looking into 16 cases where Teslas, controlled by Autopilot, crashed into emergency vehicles.
Last November, Tesla recalled about 12,000 vehicles beta-testing their Full Self-Driving Autopilot. This happened after a software update led to crashes.
How Significant is the NHTSA’s Move?
The order by the NHTSA for companies to provide data on driver-assistance-related crashes provides useful information about automated technology. However, it is still being determined how the data can be used to reduce crashes and improve safety.
According to J. Christian Gerdes, a professor of mechanical engineering, the data is helpful. However, he believes a lot can be learned from the data, but it is not the solution.
