Tesla has been questioned by the US peak body for road safety after Elon Musk suggested the electric-car giant’s autonomous driving systems could soon be used without drivers putting their hands on the steering wheel.
A social media post by Tesla CEO Elon Musk regarding the electric-car giant’s latest autonomous driving technology has prompted another investigation by the peak road safety authority in the US, according to overseas reports.
News agency Reuters reports the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has contacted Tesla regarding a post made on social media platform Twitter by Mr Musk earlier this month, in which he suggested drivers will soon be able to use the company’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ autonomous technology without their hands on the steering wheel.
On 31 December 2022, Tesla fan Whole Mars Catalog proposed on Twitter allowing users of what Tesla markets as ‘Full Self-Driving’ (FSD) to disable the system’s “steering wheel nag” – which reminds drivers to put their hands back on the steering wheel while the system is in use, if they have removed their hands for a certain period of time – if they had covered more than 10,000 miles (16,100km) of travel with FSD engaged.
The next day, Mr Musk replied: “Agreed, update coming in Jan[uary]”.
Agreed, update coming in Jan
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 31, 2022
Tesla claims the system can accelerate, stop, steer and park the car without human intervention, although the driver is still required to be attentive and keep their hands on the steering wheel in case they are required to respond to unforeseen scenarios or a failure of the technology.
While Tesla’s system was initially rolled out in September 2021 as a limited ‘beta’ service – allowing the company to gather real-time data from more than 160,000 users on public roads to help improve the technology – it became publicly available to all North American Tesla owners in November 2022.
The system can detect whether drivers are holding the steering wheel through weight inputs, rather than pressure sensors – leading to the development of ‘cheat’ devices which can trigger the bare minimum movement required to bypass the system.
According to Electrek, some devices are as simple as a steering wheel mount for a water bottle or counterweights attached the rim of the wheel.
Until this week, drivers who were found to have let go of the steering wheel with the system engaged would incur ‘strikes’, with Tesla banning those who reached five strikes from the beta test program.
However, Tesla news website Not a Tesla App now reports the electric-car giant has rolled out an over-the-air update which includes more lenient punishment for inattentive drivers, merely suspending them from using the autonomous driving system for two weeks rather than indefinitely.
Reuters reports the NHTSA’s investigation into Mr Musk’s social media post is related to the safety regulator’s ongoing probe of 830,000 Tesla cars which are equipped with its so-called ‘Full Self-Driving’ and lesser-equipped ‘Autopilot’ systems.
Since 2016, NHTSA has opened 41 investigations into crashes which involved Tesla vehicles where advanced driver assistance systems were believed to be in use.
As previously reported, NHTSA data from July 2021 to June 2022 noted 392 crashes which involved vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance systems. Of the 12 car brands in that sample, Tesla vehicles accounted for 273 – or 70 per cent – of the incidents.
Of the six fatalities where advanced driver assistance systems were considered a factor, Tesla cars accounted for 83 per cent of such crashes.
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