Autopilot, he said, gives drivers a warning if it
doesn’t detect torque on the steering wheel
at varying intervals. But unlike a similar system
from General Motors, it does not watch the
driver’s eyes to make sure he or she is paying
attention, Friedman said.
“It’s unrealistic to try to train people for
automation,” Friedman said. “You’ve got to train
automation for people.”
Tesla’s sensors were unable to see the side of
an 18-wheeler in previous crashes, he said. “Is it
that shocking that it can’t see a firetruck? We’ve
known about this for at least three years,” said
Friedman, who is calling on NHTSA to declare
Autopilot defective and force Tesla to recall it so
it keeps drivers engaged.
The Center for Auto Safety, another advocacy
group, also called for a recall.
“Put simply, a vehicle that enables a driver to not
pay attention, or fall asleep, while accelerating into
a parked fire truck is defective and dangerous,”
the group said in a statement. “Any company
that encourages such behavior should be held
responsible, and any agency that fails to act bears
equal responsibility for the next fatal incident.”
NHTSA said it will review the NTSB report “and
will not hesitate to act if NHTSA identifies a
safety-related defect.”
Tesla said in a statement Wednesday that
Autopilot repeatedly reminds drivers to remain
attentive and prohibits use of the system when
warnings are ignored.
“Since this incident occurred, we have made
updates to our system including adjusting the
time intervals between hands-on warnings
and the conditions under which they’re
activated,” the statement said. Tesla said the
frequency of the warnings varies based on
c. jardin
(C. Jardin)
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