After serious accidents US authority investigates self-driving Teslas again
The advanced version of Tesla's "Autopilot" assistance system, which can also be used in city traffic, is being put to the test by the US Federal Highway Administration. The regulators refer to four accidents involving Tesla's electric cars. A pedestrian was killed in one of them.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Following several accidents, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is once again investigating the self-driving function of electric car manufacturer Tesla.
- Specifically, the authority is investigating whether the fully automatic control of the cars is impaired in poor visibility.
- The investigation was initiated on Thursday following reports of four accidents, one of which was fatal for a pedestrian.
Visibility was impaired in the four accidents, for example due to fog, dust or blinding sunlight. Experts from the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) are now investigating whether the system recognized the poor visibility conditions and reacted appropriately. Around 2.4 million vehicles are affected by the investigation.
Tesla gave this advanced version of the "Autopilot" system the name "Full Self-Driving". Among other things, it is supposed to observe traffic lights and give way rules. However, the car manufacturer itself points out that the people at the wheel retain responsibility and must be ready to take control at all times. Tesla now refers to a "supervised" version of the FSD system.
However, company boss Elon Musk recently announced that Tesla also intends to put software on the road next year that can drive without human supervision, initially in Texas and California. US drivers have been able to use FSD for several years, initially in a test version. Drivers have also recently reported that the software has ignored red traffic light signals or turned into the wrong lane. Musk announced that the FSD software would be introduced in Europe next year.
Setback for Musk's robotaxi plans?
Musk recently presented a self-driving robotaxi without a steering wheel or pedals and announced that Tesla intends to build the vehicles from 2026. Many experts are skeptical because Musk wants to implement autonomous driving with cameras only, without more expensive sensor technology such as laser radars, which are already used by active robotaxi providers such as Waymo. Waymo, a sister company of Google, already makes more than 100,000 trips a week with passengers without a human at the wheel in four US cities.
Musk is actively supporting Republican former President Donald Trump, who wants to return to the White House in the November election. Trump had held out the prospect of entrusting Musk with the control of government spending. US authorities are also conducting other investigations into the "Autopilot" system.