Tesla’s Autopilot was involved in 273 accidents

There is now hard evidence for the performance of the car-assisted driving systems, many of which are already in full swing on American roads. Let’s talk about software that supports the driver, not completely replaced, but can take control of the car in “linear” situations, such as a ride on the highway. The results are sobering. A report published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – the federal agency that is part of the ministry of transport and is concerned with understanding how to increase road safety – analyzed the traffic accidents involving advanced accompanied driving software, from July to 15 May. The most interesting data concern theTesla Autopilot, the best known and most widely used. In less than a year he was the lead actor of 273 claims, much more than is known. Not only that: the figure represents 70 percent of all accidents considered (392 in total), so with one of the cars equipped with this kind of software. To date, Tesla has approx 830,000 cars in circulation equipped with an automated propulsion system. In second place it is located Hondawith 90 accidents (out of 6 million vehicles) and in the third there is instead Subaruby 10. The other manufacturers reported 5 or fewer claims.

The figure is comparable to an earlier analysis by the federal agency, dating from 2016. Here, too, the Tesla accidents stand out: 35 out of a total of 42. Last June a federal order made it possible to start this new research on how secure car-assisted systems really are. Every producer (about a hundred) must now report all incidents that occurred while the software was running The most serious within one day of the incident, the less serious within the fifteenth day of the following month. Most importantly, the incidents to report are the ones where the software was located active for at least 30 seconds This is because there is a suspicion – if not the allegation – that this software programmed to shut down just before impact So that the producers can then declare that they played no role in the incident. In particular, the agency wants to collect data on “unique risks»That this new technology can give rise to, especially to understand whether producers are doing everything they can to avoid them. “We need to understand the performance of these vehicles in real-life situations,” Steven Cliff of the National Traffic Safety Administration told the Washington Post.

We are talking about software that allows the driver to relinquish control of the car, even if it is still a legal requirement to remain constantly vigilant, with his eyes on the road. The car is able to maintain speed and safe distances, but also to change lanes Tesla has also released a beta version of the system update called Fully self-driving, adding the ability to move independently in the city, with all the complexities of the business, including stopping at stops and recognizing traffic lights. these systems, of fully self-driving cars, are not yet licensed for marketing, even though trials are underway at some controlled locations. The report of the federal agency also analyzed the incidents with this – more advanced – type of software, but decidedly less widespread: they were counted 130 claimsof which 62 with Waymo cars, a Google company.

Going back to the report data, most of the cars involved in the reported accidents (124) damage to the front Many others were damaged on the driver’s side instead, less so on the passenger’s side. The most affected states are California and Texas (which, by the way, is Tesla’s new home). As for the impact on people in the passenger compartment, the manufacturers reported: 6 killed and 46 injured in accidents (of which 5 are serious). However, given the number of total claims, this figure could be higher.