A tweet from Elon Musk indicating that Tesla might allow some owners who are testing a 91裸聊视频淔ull Self-Driving91裸聊视频 system to disable an alert that reminds them to keep their hands on the steering wheel has drawn attention from U.S. safety regulators.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it asked Tesla for more information about the tweet. Last week, the agency said the issue is now part of a broader investigation while using the Autopilot driver assist system.
Since 2021, Tesla has been beta-testing 91裸聊视频淔ull Self-Driving91裸聊视频 using owners who haven91裸聊视频檛 been trained on the system but are actively monitored by the company. Earlier this year, Tesla said 160,000, roughly 15% of Teslas now on U.S. roads, were participating. A wider distribution of the software was to be rolled out late in 2022.
Despite the name, Tesla still says on its website that the cars can91裸聊视频檛 drive themselves. Teslas using 91裸聊视频淔ull Self-Driving91裸聊视频 can navigate roads themselves in many cases, but experts say the system can make mistakes. 91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e not saying it91裸聊视频檚 quite ready to have no one behind the wheel,91裸聊视频 CEO Musk said in October.
On New Year91裸聊视频檚 Eve, one of Musk91裸聊视频檚 most ardent fans posted on Twitter that drivers with more than 10,000 miles of 91裸聊视频淔ull Self-Driving91裸聊视频 testing should have the option to turn off the 91裸聊视频渟teering wheel nag,91裸聊视频 an alert that tells drivers to keep hands on the wheel.
Musk replied: 91裸聊视频淎greed, update coming in Jan.91裸聊视频
It91裸聊视频檚 not clear from the tweets exactly what Tesla will do. But disabling a driver monitoring system on any vehicle that automates speed and steering would pose a danger to other drivers on the road, said Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing for Consumer Reports.
91裸聊视频淯sing FSD beta, you91裸聊视频檙e kind of part of an experiment,91裸聊视频 Fisher said. 91裸聊视频淭he problem is the other road users adjacent to you haven91裸聊视频檛 signed up to be part of that experiment.91裸聊视频
Tesla didn91裸聊视频檛 respond to a message seeking comment about the tweet or its driver monitoring.
Auto safety advocates and have long criticized Tesla91裸聊视频檚 monitoring system as inadequate. Three years ago the as a contributing factor in a 2018 fatal Tesla crash in California. The board recommended a better system, but said Tesla has not responded.
Tesla91裸聊视频檚 system measures torque on the steering wheel to try to ensure that drivers are paying attention. Many Teslas have cameras that monitor a driver91裸聊视频檚 gaze. But Fisher says those cameras aren91裸聊视频檛 infrared like those of some competitors91裸聊视频 driver assistance systems, so they can91裸聊视频檛 see at night or if a driver is wearing sunglasses.
Philip Koopman, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, argued that Tesla is contradicting itself in a way that could confuse drivers. 91裸聊视频淭hey91裸聊视频檙e trying to make customers happy by taking their hands off the wheel, even while the (owners) manual says 91裸聊视频榙on91裸聊视频檛 do that.91裸聊视频 91裸聊视频
Indeed, Tesla91裸聊视频檚 website says Autopilot and the more sophisticated 91裸聊视频淔ull Self-Driving91裸聊视频 system are intended for use by a 91裸聊视频渇ully attentive driver who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment.91裸聊视频 It says the systems are not fully autonomous.
NHTSA has noted in documents that numerous Tesla crashes have occurred in which drivers had their hands on the wheel but still weren91裸聊视频檛 paying attention. The agency has said that Autopilot is being used in areas where its capabilities are limited and that many drivers aren91裸聊视频檛 taking action to avoid crashes despite warnings from the vehicle.
Tesla91裸聊视频檚 partially automated systems have been under investigation by NHTSA since June of 2016 when a driver using Autopilot was killed after his Tesla went under a tractor-trailer crossing its path in Florida. The separate probe into Teslas that were using Autopilot when they crashed into emergency vehicles started in August 2021.
Including the Florida crash, NHTSA has sent investigators to . Nineteen people have died in those crashes.
Consumer Reports has tested Tesla91裸聊视频檚 monitoring system, which changes often with online software updates. Initially, the system didn91裸聊视频檛 warn a driver without hands on the wheel for three minutes. Recently, though, the warnings have come in as little as 15 seconds. Fisher said he isn91裸聊视频檛 sure, though, how long a driver91裸聊视频檚 hands could be off the wheel before the system would slow down or shut off completely.
In shutting off the 91裸聊视频渟teering wheel nag,91裸聊视频 Fisher said, Tesla could be switching to the camera to monitor drivers, but that91裸聊视频檚 unclear.
Despite implying through the names that Autopilot and 91裸聊视频淔ull Self-Driving91裸聊视频 can drive themselves, Fisher said, it91裸聊视频檚 clear that Tesla expects owners to still be drivers. But the NTSB says human drivers can end up dropping their guard and relying too much on the systems while looking elsewhere or doing other tasks.
Those who use 91裸聊视频淔ull Self-Driving,91裸聊视频 Fisher said, are likely to be more vigilant in taking control because the system makes mistakes.
91裸聊视频淚 wouldn91裸聊视频檛 dream of taking my hands off the wheel using that system, just because it can do things unexpectedly,91裸聊视频 he said.
Koopman said he doesn91裸聊视频檛 see a great safety risk from disabling the steering wheel nag because the Tesla monitoring system is so flawed that disabling it doesn91裸聊视频檛 necessarily make Teslas any more dangerous.
NHTSA, he said, has enough evidence to take action to force Tesla to install a better monitoring system.
The agency says it doesn91裸聊视频檛 comment on open investigations.
91裸聊视频擳om Krisher, The Associated Press