In the recent past, Tesla automobile company has received various criticism regarding the safety of autopilot technology. However, as the company continues to face more scrutiny, the chief executive, Elon Musk, has maintained his position on the effectiveness of autopilot technology. In his statement, Musk said that Teslas’ autopilot system reduces its likelihood of being involved in an accident by a factor of 10.
According to the company’s safety report issued in the early months of 2021, Tesla cars were believed to have the potential of causing a crash after every 4.19 million miles covered. Compared to the data with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, most car crashes do occur after every 484,000 miles covered on average. Therefore, the reports from Tesla were extremely remarkable.
However, on April 17th, after the safety report was issued, the electric vehicle again came into the limelight after it caused an accident leading to two deaths. After this incident, most experts have strongly rejected the earlier issued statistical report claiming that it didn’t give a full picture of the autopilot system’s safety.
Despite the increasing number of crashes associated with Tesla’s vehicles, the company has remained steadfast, claiming that the accident resulted due to driver’s misuse of the autopilot system. This was evident on social media platforms and YouTube, where drivers were captured posting videos abusing the autopilot system.
In their attempt to reduce such related crashes, the company has considered the software update by activating in-camera for their Model 3 and Model Y. These cameras will be able to detect whether the driver is attentive when autopilot is engaged. With this new upgrade, the company believes it will prevent distractions and improve safety on roads.
Tesla’s self-drive functionality will now use a combination of high-precision GPS, radar sensors, and map data, as well as an in-built camera to sense the car’s outside environment as well as to check whether the person behind the wheel is paying attention to the auto system. While Tesla cars are not self-driving, the autopilot system provides the driver will guidance on how to navigate the car on the highway, how to climb a ramp and how to interchange lanes.
Final Takeaways
Tesla is one of the best automobile manufacturers in the world. While there is rising criticism about safety concerns, Tesla has continued to make improvements to make their cars safe on roads. One of the latest developments so far is adding inbuilt cameras to monitor driver’s responses to the autopilot feature.