Tesla isn’t preventing the misuse of its Autopilot feature like it should, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is calling the company out because of it.
During a hearing on Tuesday about a March 2018 Tesla crash that resulted in the driver’s death due to misuse of the Autopilot feature, the NTSB said that Tesla needs to do more to improve the safety of its Autopilot feature.
According to multiple reports, the NTSB made Autopilot safety recommendations to six automakers — including Volkswagen, BMW AG, and Nissan — in 2017, and Tesla is the only one that has yet to respond.
The board also determined that the driver of the 2018 crash was playing a video game on his phone instead of paying attention to the road. During Tuesday’s hearing, the NTSB said that while the driver was definitely distracted and was relying solely on the Autopilot function, the car’s forward-collision warning and automatic emergency brake system did not activate, according to CNBC.
“If you own a car with partial automation, [you do] not own a self-driving car. So don’t pretend you do,” said NTSB Chair Robert Sumwalt during the hearing.
Tesla’s Autopilot has come into question before, but mostly regarding drivers’ actions rather than Tesla’s technology. Drivers have fallen asleep behind the wheel, letting their Tesla model take control through the Autopilot feature, but the company cautions that this is definitely not what drivers should be doing.
“While using Autopilot, it is your responsibility to stay alert, keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times, and maintain control of your car. Before enabling Autopilot, the driver first needs to agree to ‘keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times’ and to always ‘maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle,’” Tesla’s support page on Autopilot reads.
Tesla had its first Autopilot fatality in 2016, but the NTSB reported that the driver was at fault for not paying attention. However, the NTSB also said that Tesla “could have taken further steps to prevent the system’s misuse,” according to Reuters.
Digital Trends reached out to Tesla to comment on Tuesday’s hearing, as well as to find out what it is doing to ensure that drivers use the Autopilot feature properly. We will update this story when we hear back.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.