The US traffic safety authorities are investigating again Tesla’s Autopilot Semi-autonomous driving software, due to a recall of two million vehicles equipped with the system, the main defects of which may not have been corrected.
Tesla claims that Autopilot can accelerate, brake and steer the car on its own, all features it shares with adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assistance systems in other vehicles.
While drivers are required to keep their hands on the wheel and remain alert in case the car does something unexpected, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that Tesla’s Autopilot driving system did not set strict enough limits to prevent misuse to prevent.
In a December 2023 recall notice for 2,031,220 Tesla vehicles equipped with the software, NHTSA said the torque sensor in the steering rack was insufficient to detect misuse, so some exploited the system by placing weights on the Steering wheel placed simulate the feeling of hands.
The recall included an over-the-air (OTA) update that included more warnings and alerts to encourage drivers to remain vigilant. However, the Road Safety Authority has now discovered that some of these warnings were activated by drivers and could be reversed – defeating the point of the recall.
According to NHTSA, since the recall, collisions and accidents where Autopilot was found to be in use have continued to occur, while Tesla has also released additional OTA updates to the system, which NHTSA says are related to its concerns about the system.
“This investigation will examine why these updates were not part of the recall or were otherwise intended to correct a defect that posed an unreasonable safety risk,” NHTSA said in its investigation announcement.
Additionally, NHTSA says it identified concerns after preliminary testing it conducted on repaired vehicles.
The recall affected Tesla’s Model 3, Model Y, Model S and Model is equipped with the same autopilot system.
It’s worth noting that this research only covers Autopilot and not the supposedly more powerful Full Self-Driving system, which Tesla says can also stop at traffic lights and signs and change lanes automatically.
Autopilot is standard on all new Tesla vehicles, while “Full Self-Driving” requires payments of $99 per month (A$150) as a subscription or $12,000 (A$22,900) for unlimited access are.
Like Autopilot, the name “Full Self-Driving” has come under criticism for giving drivers a false understanding of what the system is capable of.
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