US electric car manufacturer Tesla said on March 30 that a few days ago in a fatal car accident with Tesla, the car's automatic assisted driving function was in use at the time of the incident, and the driver's hands were not placed on the steering wheel. This is the second fatal car accident in the United States under the automatic assisted driving of Tesla.
A driver drove a Tesla Model X sport utility vehicle (SUV) on the morning of March 23, driving on a highway in Mountain View, California, hitting a concrete barrier. The front of his car was badly damaged and caught fire, causing the rear two cars to follow each other. The driver was injured in the hospital.
Tesla issued a statement on the 30th: "In the period before the collision, the automatic assisted driving function is in use, and the following distance in the active cruise control is set to the minimum distance."
The statement said that the car's system issued several video prompts and an audible prompt asking the driver to hold the steering wheel with both hands. “But within 6 seconds before the accident, the system did not detect that the driver put his hands on the steering wheel. From the distance of 150 meters from the highway concrete barrier, the driver can clearly see the isolation belt and have a reaction time of about 5 seconds. However, unfortunately, the driving log shows that the driver did not take any action."
Tesla said in a statement in July 2016 that in the car accident in May of that year, the trailer traversed the road in front of the Tesla. "In strong sunshine conditions, drivers and autonomous drivers failed to notice. The white body of the trailer was unable to start the brake system in time. Since the trailer was crossing the road and the body was high, this special situation caused the Model S to collide with the bottom of the trailer when the Model S passed the bottom of the trailer.
Tesla emphasizes that the “automatic navigation†function in the vehicle is auxiliary. According to the operation requirements, the driver should use “holding the steering wheel with both hands†when using this function. Moreover, each time the function is activated, the vehicle system will remind the driver to hold the steering wheel and be ready to take over. If the system detects that the driver leaves the steering wheel with both hands, a warning icon or a warning tone will be displayed to gradually reduce the speed until the driver is touched on the steering wheel.
Tesla's announcement did not mention why Autopilot did not detect concrete barriers.
Earlier on March 18, Uber crashed a pedestrian while performing an autopilot test in Arizona.
On March 27th, the NaTIonal TransportaTIon Safety Board (NTSB) intervened in the case and launched an investigation. This is also the second time the bureau has paid attention to the Tesla car accident this year. The Wall Street Journal reported that the National Transportation Safety Board is known for investigating air crashes and is now investing more in emerging autonomous driving technologies.
According to a Reuters report on March 31, Tesla's Autopilot allowed the driver to leave the steering wheel with both hands for a longer period of time. Although Tesla requires users to "always" on the steering wheel before using Autopilot, users often boast that they do not need to hold the steering wheel when using this feature.
Earlier in May 2016, a Tesla Model S car crash killed the driver, who also used Autopilot. This is also the first fatal car accident caused by the Tesla car in the Autopilot mode.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the National Transportation Safety Board of the United States concluded that Tesla was responsible for the car accident because it did not contain adequate safety protection measures. Tesla's explanation at the time was that the system did not see the white truck in the face of the bright sky.
The committee also said that Autopilot allowed drivers to ignore the company's warnings and keep their hands on the steering wheel when driving for long periods of time. They also found that Autopilot can be used for sections that are not designed. The driver's hands on the steering system that is not on the steering wheel are also very helpful to the warning driver.
Tesla said in the announcement that "Autopilot can't stop all accidents - it is impossible to set such a standard, but it can make accidents happen as much as possible. It is undoubtedly able to make the world's car owners, pedestrians and riders The walker is safer."
Reuters report also mentioned that on March 29th, Tesla announced the recall of 123,000 Model S cars produced before April 2016, which was said to be replacing bolts. The bolt is part of the power steering assembly and is said to begin to corrode when in contact with the pavement salt that is spread under cold temperatures. There have been no accidents yet.
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