The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports after an investigation that Tesla's self-driving system is linked to hundreds of accidents and dozens of deaths.
The US NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has found that Tesla's driver assistance features are not enough to keep drivers focused on the wheel, often with fatal results.
Accidents on the road they are too many and they have happened even in Greece. Several of them have injuries, even deaths.
In all, Tesla drivers used Autopilot, the automaker's advanced driver assistance feature that Elon Musk insists will eventually lead to fully autonomous cars.
An NHTSA investigation after examining hundreds of accidents found a pattern of driver inattention, combined with Tesla's technology deficiencies, resulting in hundreds of injuries and dozens of deaths.
Drivers using Autopilot, or the system's more advanced sibling, Full Self-Driving, "were not sufficiently engaged in driving" and Tesla's technology "does not adequately ensure that drivers will maintain their attention while driving» the NHTSA investigation concluded.
In total, NHTSA investigated 956 crashes starting in January 2018 and ending in August 2023. Of those crashes, some of which involved other vehicles crashing into the Tesla vehicle, 29 people died.
NHTSA was prompted to launch its investigation after several incidents of Tesla drivers crashing into stationary emergency vehicles parked on the side of the road.
Most of these incidents took place at night, with the software ignoring scene control measures, including warning lights, flashing lights, cones and an illuminated arrow board.
In its report, the agency found that Autopilot, and in some cases FSD, was not designed to keep the driver focused on driving.
Tesla says it is warning customers to be careful when using Autopilot and FSD, which includes keeping their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.
But NHTSA says that in many cases, drivers get too complacent and lose focus. And when the time comes for them to react, it's often too late.
In 59 crashes NHTSA reviewed, the agency found that Tesla drivers had enough time to react. "Five or more seconds," before they hit another object.
In 19 of those crashes, the hazard was visible for 10 or more seconds before the crash. By reviewing crash logs and data provided by Tesla, NHTSA found that in the majority of crashes analyzed, drivers failed to brake or steer the vehicle to avoid the hazard.
And on the other side of the ocean, the situation with electric vehicles (dangerous toys) is no better: China: An electric car drove by itself and ran over people.