File Photo: Rescue personnel attend a scene where a Tesla electric SUV collides with a barrier on US Highway 101 in Mountain View, California, March 25, 2018. KTVUFOX2 / via REUTERS
Washington -According to US car safety regulator data released Wednesday, Tesla has reported 273 car accidents since July, including more advanced driver assistance systems than any other car maker.
Automakers and tech companies have reported more than 500 crashes since June 2021, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued an order requesting information.
Automobile companies are rushing to add driver assistance systems, which they say improve safety by handling some operations. US regulatory agencies are trying to understand the practical implications of the change. However, as automakers collect and report data in a variety of ways, it is difficult to draw conclusions about system performance.
Tesla’s advanced driver assistant software, called “full self-driving,” is also causing confusion about the vehicle’s capabilities.
NHTSA has ordered companies to promptly report all collisions related to vehicles equipped with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and automated driving systems that are being tested on public roads.
Of the 392 such clashes reported by 12 automakers since July, 6 were killed and 5 were seriously injured. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. confirmed 90 crashes.
The company also reported 130 accidents related to the prototype autonomous driving system, of which 108 were uninjured and one was seriously injured.
According to NHTSA, Alphabet Inc’s self-driving car unit Waymo reported 62 collisions related to vehicles equipped with self-driving systems, while General Motors Cruises 23.
According to Waymo, the crash was less severe and one-third was in manual mode. The airbag was deployed in just two collisions.
“We recorded millions of miles in one of the most complex urban driving environments, as our main goal is to save lives,” Cruise said.
NHTSA said it was already used to trigger investigations and recalls when releasing the first batch of data and helped notify existing defect probes.
“Providing important and timely safety data to NHTSA helps investigators quickly identify potential defect trends,” said NHTSA administrator Steven Cliff, reported by manufacturer. The raw number of incidents warned that “it is not enough to draw conclusions on its own.”
Agencies emphasize that crashes are tracked in different ways by individual automakers, and there may not be a comprehensive indicator of how widely each system is used, resulting in performance among automakers. I discouraged the comparison.
Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.
Honda told Reuters that no flaws were found in the system and the crash report was based on an unconfirmed customer statement “to comply with NHTSA’s 24-hour reporting deadline.”
Other automakers have not reported more than 10 ADAS crashes during the period.
Despite the limitations, NHTSA said data is essential to quickly discover potential flaws and safety trends. Incidents that occur when an advanced system is activated within 30 seconds of a crash must be reported to NHTSA within 24 hours.
The agency will release new data every month.
NHTSA is scrutinizing the autopilot and announced last week that it would upgrade its system-equipped probe to an 830,000 Tesla vehicle. This is a necessary step before asking for a recall. Regulatory authorities have begun preliminary assessments to assess the performance of the autopilot after approximately 12 collisions with Tesla’s vehicles colliding with stopped emergency vehicles.
Separately, NHTSA has launched 35 special collision investigations, including Tesla vehicles suspected of using ADAS. These Tesla investigations reported deaths from a total of 14 accidents, including the May accident in California, which killed three people.
According to Tesla, the autopilot allows it to automatically brake and maneuver in the lane, but it cannot drive on its own.
