Federal investigators announced Tuesday that the design of Tesla's semiautonomous driving system allowed the driver of a Tesla Model S in a fatal 2016 crash with a semi-truck to rely too heavily on the car's automation.
"Tesla allowed the driver to use the system outside of the environment for which it was designed," said National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt. "The system gave far too much leeway to the driver to divert his attention."
The board's report declares the primary probable cause of the collision as the truck driver's failure to yield, as well as the Tesla driver's overreliance on his car's automation — or Autopilot, as Tesla calls the system. Tesla's system design was declared a contributing factor.
[...] A Tesla spokesperson provided a statement to ABC News that read, "We appreciate the NTSB's analysis of last year's tragic accident, and we will evaluate their recommendations as we continue to evolve our technology. We will also continue to be extremely clear with current and potential customers that Autopilot is not a fully self-driving technology and drivers need to remain attentive at all times."
According to The Associated Press, members of Brown's family said on Monday that they do not blame the car or the Autopilot system for his death.
A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report on the crash can be found here. The NTSB has yet not published its full report; a synopsis of it can be found here.
(Score: 2) by theluggage on Thursday September 14 2017, @11:09AM (1 child)
I wasn't aware that pilots were expected to sit with their hands on the stick and their eyes on the sky ahead while the plane was on autopilot, so they could slam on the brakes if a 747 suddenly pulled out from behind a cloud...
But then, driving is not flying. Insofar as it pertains to avoiding crashing into other planes or pedestrians, flying is easier than driving (other aspects may be a bit harder). Airline pilots report a "near miss" if another plane passes within a quarter of a mile of them. Airline pilots flying through crowded airspace have support from air traffic control. Airline pilots are paid to fly planes - they're not rushing to get to work so they can start getting paid. Airline pilots on large planes typically have a co-pilot to watch their back.
An airline-style autopilot (which basically kept you on a particular bearing) would be as much use as an inflatable dartboard in a car - so there's not much point arguing about what "autopilot" might mean in the context of a car.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 14 2017, @04:48PM
Sure, a literal airplane autopilot wouldn't do much good in a car, but there is a pretty clear analogy between "maintain constant heading" in the air and "stay in lane" on the road.