New York (AFP)
The fatal crash of an apparently driverless Tesla on Thursday led to renewed attention to the driver assistance systems offered by the group, with a consumer association showing it was "easy" to drive a brand vehicle with no one behind the wheel.
US Transportation Minister Pete Buttigieg said on Thursday that federal investigators were still "gathering information" on the Tesla crash that crashed into a tree in Spring, Texas on Saturday night.
"But I think this is an important moment to remember that many driver assistance systems continue to rely on the assumption that an attentive driver is behind the wheel," he added at the end. of a press conference on another topic.
According to the preliminary investigation by local authorities, the vehicle was traveling at high speed and with no one in the driver's seat at the time of the collision, before igniting.
Two victims were found, one in the front passenger seat and the other in the back seat.
Tesla boss Elon Musk assured Monday that according to the first data collected, the Autopilot driving assistance system available on the brand's cars was not activated.
Without giving further details, he also noticed in a tweet that Autopilot was not supposed to operate on lanes without dividing lines.
The US road safety agency, NHTSA, launched its own investigation on Monday, as did the US National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB).
The circumstances of the accident sparked many reactions on social networks, reigniting the debate on the capabilities of driver assistance software developed by Tesla.
The group offers Autopilot software, which makes it possible to adapt the speed of the car to the traffic and to guide the car on clearly demarcated lanes.
Some people may buy a more expensive version, called "full self-driving capability" or "full autonomous driving capability", even if the driver is not expected to take the wheel off the wheel.
With this software, the car can change lanes on the motorway on its own, niche or stop at traffic lights.
- "Worrisome trend" -
Senators Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey called on NHTSA on Thursday in a letter to conduct a "thorough" investigation into the crash, which also includes "recommendations on remedies that could possibly be taken to prevent such events from happening. reproduce ".
This is the 28th investigation involving a Tesla opened by the NHTSA, note the two officials, members of the Senate Transport Committee.
There appears to be "a trend emerging" on Tesla vehicle safety issues, which "is incredibly disturbing and deserves your full attention," they write.
In particular, they highlight the fact that Tesla can give drivers a "false sense of security" when describing the capabilities of its driver assistance systems.
On its website, the electric car manufacturer warns that these systems do not make the vehicle autonomous and that the active supervision of a driver remains necessary.
But Mr. Musk regularly touts the strides his group has made towards autonomous driving.
An experiment conducted by the consumer protection association Consumer Reports has also shown that it was possible for the driver of a moving car to sit in the passenger seat by hanging a weight on the steering wheel and not unhooking the seat belt. of security.
"The system not only failed to make sure the driver was paying attention, but it also failed to spot whether or not there was a driver," the association said on its website.
Tesla is, on this point, less advanced than other car manufacturers such as General Motors or Ford which, in their driving assistance systems, "use more advanced technologies to ensure that the driver is looking at the road. ".
© 2021 AFP