In the United States, some cars have advanced driving assistance features, including Tesla, the brand created by billionaire Elon Musk.
But these assistance programs are sometimes the cause of accidents when they are misinterpreted.
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Is the Tesla brand moving too fast in the implementation of autonomous driving?
An investigation is open in the United States where, in three years, eleven accidents have left one dead and 17 injured.
At issue: the driving assistance system of Elon Musk's company, called "autopilot".
The feature has a confusing name.
By activating this option, the driver may think that an automatic pilot is in place.
While this is only a driving aid.
It is certainly very advanced, but the vigilance of the driver must not decrease.
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Hands on the wheel, eyes on the road and not on a series or a book.
This vision from a science fiction film corresponds to level 5 of autonomous driving.
But it is not for now, say all the specialists.
Still, Elon Musk hints that it will happen in the next few months at Tesla.
In France, autonomous driving authorized at the end of 2022
In the meantime, car manufacturers are working on partial autonomy.
Level 2, for example, where the driver only supervises a parking lot.
Level 3 is gradually arriving: these are predefined situations where the driver delegates the driving, as with the traffic jam function of the Volvo XC90 model.
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In France, a decree was published at the very beginning of the summer. It will authorize autonomous driving in September 2022. But safeguards are still planned: it will only be authorized on routes or in predefined areas.