According to a report released last Wednesday by the US Highway Traffic Safety Agency, Tesla vehicles equipped with Autopilot self-driving software called “Level 2” were involved in 273 accidents in the United States, nearly all between July and May last year. . . Patrick T. Fallon/AFP
Tesla vehicles equipped with Autopilot self-driving software have been involved in 273 accidents in the United States, according to a report released Wednesday by the US Highway Traffic Safety Agency (NHTSA), which is currently investigating the system. American manufacturer of luxury electric vehicles.
The report focuses on vehicles equipped with this so-called “level 2” software, i.e., which can accelerate or decelerate the vehicle and turn the steering wheel if necessary, but nevertheless require an attentive driver ready to resume control at any time. time. In total, Tesla models were the subject of almost 70% of reported 392 listed accidents, almost all of them between July 2021 and mid-May 2022, according to NHTSA. However, the agency clarifies that the same crash may have been the subject of multiple reports and that the numbers released last Wednesday “are not important data from a safety standpoint.” Among the eleven other manufacturers listed, only the Japanese manufacturer Honda was the subject of a significant number of reports (90).
For a crash to be counted, the crash must have occurred when the driving assistance system was activated at some point or another within the thirty seconds preceding it. Other criteria: The accident must either involve a pedestrian, a two-wheeled vehicle (bicycle or motorcycle), transport a person to a hospital, or must deploy an airbag or require the vehicle to be towed.
The NHTSA also reminds that the number of accidents should be related to the number of accidents of the manufacturer’s vehicles equipped with driver assistance systems. Tesla is by far the brand with the largest fleet of this type of vehicle in the United States. The NHTSA also recently expanded an investigation launched last summer into a potential link between Tesla’s driver assistance system and a series of crashes involving ambulances. The investigation moved from preliminary evaluation to engineering analysis, the last step before a possible recall.
Autopilot, a driver-assistance system developed by Tesla, is supposed to help the driver follow the path of the road and keep the right distance from other vehicles, but the luxury electric car maker says the driver must remain vigilant at all times.
Source: AFP.
Source: L Orient Le Jour
I’ve been working in the automotive industry for over a decade, writing about everything from reviews to industry news. I’m currently an author at World Herald News and cover a wide range of topics relating to automobiles.
