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While it may not be all that surprising to SN readers, some data on "self driving" cars has now hit the big time, WaPo reports: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/06/15/tesla-autopilot-crashes/
Tesla vehicles running its Autopilot software have been involved in 273 reported crashes over roughly the past year, according to regulators, far more than previously known and providing concrete evidence regarding the real-world performance of its futuristic features.
The numbers, which were published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for the first time Wednesday, show that Tesla vehicles made up nearly 70 percent of the 392 crashes involving advanced driver-assistance systems reported since last July, and a majority of the fatalities and serious injuries — some of which date back further than a year. Eight of the Tesla crashes took place before June 2021, according to data released by NHTSA on Wednesday morning.
And 5 of 6 fatalities were linked with Tesla cars, the other was one of the competing Level 2 systems offered by other automakers.
WaPo continues,
The new data set stems from a federal order last summer requiring automakers to report crashes involving driver assistance to assess whether the technology presented safety risks. Tesla's vehicles have been found to shut off the advanced driver-assistance system, Autopilot, around one second before impact, according to the regulators.
The NHTSA order required manufacturers to disclose crashes where the software was in use within 30 seconds of the crash, in part to mitigate the concern that manufacturers would hide crashes by claiming the software wasn't in use at the time of the impact. [Ed: Emphasis provided by the submitter.]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Monday June 20 2022, @05:29PM
Oh, hell yeah. Saints are rare. But, by and large, people aren't out to screw each other, especially at potentially high cost to themselves - a fair number want to screw with others, but most of them stop short of causing serious harm.
And: are the other drivers paying attention? I will say this, before the "no texting while driving" laws passed here, you could watch passing traffic and over 60% of drivers would be holding a cellphone while driving by. After the law passed, that number is down under 5% - but the number of people staring at their lap has increased from about 2% to maybe 5%. Still, remarkably, even so impaired, most of these good people still keep it in their lane and stop before rear-ending the car in front most of the time. I say most, one fine rainy morning a neighbor rear-ended me on the main road very hard. My 77 GMC actually came out slightly improved from the collision, it straightened a kink that had been recently put in the rear bumper. Her SUV was totalled, and she had to take off her seat belt to climb over the steering wheel to retrieve her cellphone from the windscreen (90s cab forward style huge dashboard). I also have had a couple of near misses where the driver who slammed their brakes at the last moment simultaneously lost grip on their phone and it flew into the windshield-dashboard meeting point. But, that's one rear-end collision and maybe three near misses in a million miles of driving... they usually get it right.
Oh, and I love classic cars, but I will NEVER drive one without headrests in traffic. It only takes one rear-end collision in a 1960s style seat without headrests to end up paralyzed for life - or, slightly better, dead.
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