Tesla is recalling more than two million vehiclesacross its entire model line, to repair a faulty system linked to the autopilot.
According to documents published this Wednesday by US security regulators, Elon Musk’s company will update the software to fix the problem in the system, which should ensure that drivers pay attention while using Autopilot, cited a network report NBC in Florida.
Tesla recalled models Y, S, 3 and X produced between October 5, 2012 and December 7 of this year, the report noted. The software update was to be sent this Tuesday to some of the affected vehicles and the rest would receive it later.
The withdrawal of almost all Tesla vehicles for sale in the United States comes after a two-year investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), following a series of traffic accidents that happened when the Autopilot partially automated driving system was in use in vehicles involved in the accidents. Some of the accidents caused the death of people involved.
NHTSA said it has sent investigators to 35 Tesla crashes since 2016in which the agency suspected that the vehicles were circulating with an automated system. At least 17 people have diedhe pointed NBC 6.
The agency’s investigation found that the Autopilot system to ensure drivers pay attention may be inadequate and lead to “foreseeable misuse” and determined that additional controls and alerts “would further encourage the driver to comply with his responsibility to continuous driving.”
However, safety experts said that while removing the cars from the market is a good move, it still doesn’t solve an essential problem: Tesla’s automated systems have difficulty detecting and stopping obstacles in their path.
According to documents for the removal of the carsresearchers met with the company to explain the provisional conclusions about the system repair, but Tesla disagreed with the agency’s analysisalthough it agreed to withdraw the cars from the market on December 5.
In its statement this Wednesday, the NHTSA announced that the investigation will remain open while monitoring the effectiveness of the changes that Tesla will make and will continue to “work with the automaker to ensure the highest level of safety.”
For years, auto safety advocates have called for tighter regulation of the driver’s monitoring system, which primarily detects whether the driver’s hands are holding the steering wheel. In addition, they have requested cameras to ensure that the driver is attentive while driving, which are used by other car manufacturers with similar systems.
The note of NBC6 South Florida revealed that independent tests have shown that “the surveillance system is easy to deceive, to the point that Drivers have been caught driving drunk and even sitting in the back seat”.
“Autopilot can turn, accelerate and brake automatically, but it is a driver assistance system and can’t drive alone despite his name”, he pointed out.
In a statement published this Monday on the social network X, Tesla assured that safety is greater when Autopilot is activated.
“In the fourth quarter of 2022, we recorded one accident for every 4.85 million miles driven where drivers used Autopilot technology,” Tesla said. “For drivers not using Autopilot technology, we recorded one accident for every 1.4 million miles driven. By comparison, the most recent data available from NHTSA and FHWA (from 2021) shows that in the United States there was a car accident approximately every 652,000 miles.”
“The data is clear: the more automation technology offered to assist the driver, the safer the driver and other road users will be,” said the automobile company founded by Musk.
