According to reports, due to another collision between a Tesla electric car and a police car, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) wrote to Tesla today, hoping to obtain information on how the Tesla Autopilot system detects and responds to parked vehicles. Details of emergency vehicles on highways.
On August 16, NHTSA announced a formal investigation into Tesla’s semi-autonomous driving system Autopilot, saying that it is difficult for the system to identify emergency response vehicles parked on the road. NHTSA said that since 2018, they have identified 11 related crashes. In these accidents, Tesla cars with Autopilot enabled collided with emergency response vehicles, including police cars and vehicles dedicated to dangerous goods.
And last Saturday, a Tesla Model 3 electric car rammed a police car parked on the side of the road on an interstate highway near Orlando, Florida, and a police officer was nearly injured. So far, the number of accidents involving Tesla vehicles colliding with “emergency response vehicles” has reached 12. In these crashes, at least 17 people were injured and 1 person died.
In the 11-page letter released today, NHTSA wanted to know how Tesla detected the crash site, including flashing lights, road flares, reflective vests worn by responders, and vehicles parked on the road. In addition, NHTSA also wants to know how the Autopilot system responds to low-light conditions, what actions it will take if an emergency vehicle appears, and how it warns the driver.
It is reported that the survey initiated by NHTSA last month covers Model Y, Model X, Model S and Model 3 models from 2014 to 2021. The Autopilot function of Tesla cars is often abused by car owners, such as when driving under the influence or even sitting in the back seat when the car is entering the highway. Tesla and other automakers have been warning drivers that they must be prepared to intervene at any time while using semi-automatic driving assistance systems.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last month that Tesla Vision, the vision solution used by Tesla’s self-driving cars, will soon be able to detect turn signals, hazard lights, police cars and ambulances of other vehicles. Car lights, even hand gestures. This means that, when needed, Tesla’s autopilot system can respond to emergency response vehicles.
