US to probe Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving' system after pedestrian killed

[groundloop]

Source: ABC News

The U.S. government's road safety agency is again investigating Tesla's “Full Self-Driving” system, this time after getting reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian.

The National Highway Safety Administration says in documents that it opened the probe on Thursday with the company reporting four crashes after Teslas entered areas of low visibility, including sun glare, fog and airborne dust.

In addition to the pedestrian's death, another crash involved an injury, the agency said.

Investigators will look into the ability of “Full Self-Driving” to “detect and respond appropriately to reduced roadway visibility conditions, and if so, the contributing circumstances for these crashes.”

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-probe-teslas-full-driving-system-after-pedestrian-114920853

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Tesla is the only company working on self-driving vehicles to use only camera sensors, all other companies use radar and laser sensors in addition to cameras to be able to function better in low visibility conditions.

[Joinfortmill]

1. This goddamn car is in the news for some

failure every other minute. Pull it off the road.

[Voltaire2]

5. The car is quite reliable, it's self driving system is not.

[doc03]

8. They appear to also burst into flames on a regular basis too. They should be taken off

the market immediately until they get these problems solved.

[Voltaire2]

12. nope. That is simply untrue nonsense from our friends the oiligarchs.

Strangely enough automobile fires are vastly more common in the vehicles equipped with a large tank of highly flammable gasoline.

EVs have five fires per billion miles traveled, while ICE vehicles have 55 fires per billion. - https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton/2024/04/21/electric-vehicles-not-guilty-of-excess-short-term-fire-risk-charges/

There is a valid concern over the severity of EV fires. However, this is mostly a training issue for fire departments.

[littlemissmartypants]

2. Thank goodness for Secretary Pete.

Dollars to donuts he knows something about this. ❤️

[groundloop]

3. Tesla has to cheap-out on safety after paying Elmo's $45 BILLION salary

[sdfernando]

4. Time to decertify Tesla's self-driving mode

too many incidents and deaths.

[Voltaire2]

6. It's hard to decertify something that is not certified.

There is currently no federal program that certifies autonomous vehicles.

Some states do have a regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles, but as tesla positions it’s system as an ‘advanced driver assist system’ (as do other manufacturers) they avoid regulation from these states as well.

[doc03]

7. If Tesla was made by GM (Corvair) or Ford (Pinto) it would have been

taken off the market long ago. I don't want to share the road with a vehicle that may
deliberately crash into me or explode into flames.

[truthisfreedom]

9. You'll probably want to stay off the road altogether then

According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), EVs are involved in about 25 fires per 100,000 sold, while gasoline-powered vehicles are involved in about 1,530 fires per 100,000 sold. Hybrid vehicles have an even higher rate of fires, at about 3,475 per 100,000 sold.

[Lem1951]

10. Camera ,. No radar

Musk has demanded cuts to cost of production of his cars. One way they have done this is going to cameras vs radar. Cameras cost 1/4 to 1/3 the cost of a radar device. So not able to see in visibility challenging situations.

[Voltaire2]

13. It wasn't only cost. The Idiot had a brainstorm: humans only need eyes to drive!

And in full megalomaniac mode he commanded it to be so.

It was a really stupid decision that effectively crippled FSD development.

[LauraInLA]

15. Sadly, our Model 3 (an early one) does have radar in addition to the cameras. I'm not sure I'd be happy with

one that didn’t. However, the cameras on the new cars are sensitive enough that the new cars can park in narrower spaces than ours.

[louis-t]

11. Sorry, I'm not getting in a 'self-driving' car anytime soon.

Probably never.

[ck4829]

14. Right? Thank god the non-self-driving cars are completely safe.

[Voltaire2]

16. I suspect your point was entirely missed.