The National Highway safety department of the US Govt launched an investigation against Tesla’s Autopilot Advanced Driver Assistance System recently after a series of crashes happened. The inquiry by the US NHTSA followed 11 incidents in which 17 people were wounded and one person was killed, and it might affect 7,65,000 vehicles.
According to the safety officials, the agency is committed to maintaining the highest safety standards on highways hence, it is required to understand the reasons behind the crashes. On the other hand, Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla has backed the Autopilot system by stating that it requires the “active driver supervision” behind the wheels.
However, the detractors including members of Congress demanded stringent action from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because the Autopilot system is completely faulty according to them. Additionally, they mentioned that the name of the system misleads the drivers and gives false hope of security. As per the agency officials, the Tesla X, Y, S and 3 models are coming under investigation owing to involvement in collapses.
As per the sources, the spokesperson from the agency informed that they are warning people about such cars because no commercially available vehicles can drive themselves properly without driver assistance. Also, most of the accidents took place after dark and even after using control measures such as emergency vehicle lights, lit road signage boards and traffic cones.
But such advanced assistance system technology and equipment can assist the drivers to mitigate the chances of clashes in modern motor vehicles. Investigations like the one announced lately might result in recalls. Tesla recalled more than 2,85,000 cars in China in June owing to issues with the cruise control system, which officials warned may lead to accidents. Even it is being said that the Tesla shares got affected badly with the initiation of the investigation.
