NHTSA blamed Tesla's autopilot for hundreds of crashes and dozens of fatalities

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The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has completed a major investigation into Tesla's Autopilot driver assistance system. The organisation concluded that Tesla's weak driver engagement system led to hundreds of crashes, including at least 13 fatal incidents that killed 14 people.

Here's What We Know

In an investigation of nearly 1,000 crashes involving Tesla between January 2018 and August 2023, the NHTSA found that in 211 of the most serious cases, electric cars on autopilot crashed head-on into obstacles in their path. These incidents killed 14 people and resulted in 49 serious injuries.

According to the regulator, the fault was that the Autopilot software did not adequately monitor drivers' attention to the road situation. In 78 of the crashes, drivers had at least five seconds to prevent a collision but failed to react in time.

The NHTSA criticises Tesla for misleading Autopilot branding that gives drivers the illusion that the system is fully autonomous. The regulator calls it a "critical safety gap."

It also notes that Tesla only provides data on 18 per cent of crashes reported to police, making it impossible to assess the real scale of the problem.

The NHTSA has opened a new investigation into Tesla's latest autopilot software update to evaluate its effectiveness. Previously, 2 million vehicles were recalled due to problems with the system.

Source: Engadget