Elon Musk’s electric car firm Tesla is recalling over two million vehicles in the US after its Autopilot feature was found to be defective. Tesla’s Autopilot is designed to help drivers with steering, acceleration, and braking — however, it is only meant to be used on highways and still requires the driver to be paying […]
Elon Musk’s electric car firm Tesla is recalling over two million vehicles in the US after its Autopilot feature was found to be defective.
Tesla’s Autopilot is designed to help drivers with steering, acceleration, and braking — however, it is only meant to be used on highways and still requires the driver to be paying attention to the road, something that the feature reportedly failed to ensure.
A two-year investigation by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) into almost 1000 Tesla cars found that “the prominence and scope of the feature’s controls may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse.”
“Automated technology holds great promise for improving safety but only when it is deployed responsibly,” it added.
The recall notice doesn’t require a physical return, but a software update that it would send “over the air”, said Tesla.
According to the report, additional controls to be added include increasing the prominence of visual alerts on the user interface, simplifying engagement and disengagement of Autosteer, additional checks upon engaging Autosteer and while using the feature off of highways and approaching traffic controls, and suspending drivers from using the feature if they fail to keep to the rules.
Tesla drivers must agree to keep their hands on the steering wheel at all times, and if a driver fails to do so they will be locked out of using Autopilot for the duration of the trip – although some users have admitted using a weight on the wheel as a loophole for this.
Earlier this year, a completely driverless vehicle hit and injured a woman in downtown San Francisco, forcing the firm, Cruise, to reduce its fleet by half while it was being investigated.
In other countries such as the UK, self-driving vehicles are still not permitted due to lengthy negotiations over ensuring public trust in SDV safety, security risks, and potential repercussions for traditional road users.
The delay in legislation has caused concern among government officials in the UK, who claim that the country will lose its edge over international counterparts in the industry.
Nevertheless, Toyota, Mercedes, Jaguar Land Rover, and Volkswagen are working towards releasing their own vehicles with autonomous capabilities over the next couple of years, and Ford’s self-driving car has been approved for the UK.
