NHTSA closes investigation into Tesla Autopilot misuse

SAN FRANCISCO, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Friday closed a nearly three years investigation into Tesla's Autopilot driver assistance system after reviewing hundreds of crashes involving its misuse, including 13 that were fatal and "many more involving serious injuries."

NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation said in documents released Friday that it found evidence that "Tesla's weak driver engagement system was not appropriate for Autopilot's permissive operating capabilities."

"This mismatch resulted in a critical safety gap between drivers' expectations of operating capabilities and the system's true capabilities," the agency wrote. "This gap led to foreseeable misuse and avoidable crashes."

NHTSA said it had identified in a previous investigation "at least 13 crashes involving one or more fatalities and many more involving serious injuries in which foreseeable driver misuse of the system played an apparent role".

Its investigation reviewed 956 reported crashes up until August 30, 2023. A total of 467 crashes related to Autopilot system. There were 211 crashes where the frontal plane of the Tesla struck another vehicle or obstacle with adequate time for an attentive driver to respond to avoid or mitigate the crash.

It said 145 crashes involved "roadway departures in low traction conditions such as wet roadways," adding that 111 of the crashes involved "roadway departures where Autosteer was inadvertently disengaged by the driver's inputs."

These crashes "are often severe because neither the system nor the driver reacts appropriately, resulting in high-speed differential and high energy crash outcomes," the agency wrote.

NHTSA said it is opening a new investigation to evaluate whether the Autopilot recall fix that Tesla implemented in December is effective enough.

Tesla tells drivers they need to pay attention to the road and keep their hands on the wheel while using Autopilot, which it measures via a torque sensor and the in-cabin camera.

Tesla agreed to issue a recall via a software update that would theoretically increase driver monitoring. But that update did not really appear to change Autopilot much. According to NHTSA, parts of that recall fix require the "owner to opt in," and Tesla allows a driver to "readily reverse" some of the safeguards.

The company is also facing multiple lawsuits regarding Autopilot, and the California Department of Motor Vehicles has accused Tesla of falsely advertising the capabilities of Autopilot and the more-advanced Full Self-Driving beta software.