Tesla under scrutiny over phantom braking concerns

In the past nine months, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has received up to 354 complaints about Tesla vehicles unexpectedly braking.

Tesla prides itself on its Autopilot feature, its website expounding their cars which “come standard with advanced hardware capable of providing Autopilot features and full self-driving capabilities.”

ADAS

Whilst pioneers in the automotive industry race to implement Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) with varying levels of human interaction, Tesla’s eight surround cameras on vehicles offer 360 degrees of vision and offers more visibility than that which a human can sense.

However, Tesla disclaim that their “autopilot features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.”

The trustworthiness of AI is subject to mass scrutiny and questions of accountability tend to amount to a grey area. ADAS is intended to improve driving experiences and make them safer, but surely danger is ensued by cars braking mid-drive? Critics might respond by asking where the driver’s responsibilities lie in such a debate.

Drivable console

Once again trumping headlines surrounding the future of cars, Elon Musk this week tweeted: “We’re working through the general case of making Steam games work on a Tesla vs specific titles. Former is obviously where we should be long-term.”

Back in 2019, Musk introduced the ‘Tesla Arcade’ as an in-car gaming experience. The car’s features itself act as part of the console as drivers can use their driving wheel and pedals to immerse themselves.

Further to this, other games were offered in the form of ‘Passenger Play’ which used the touchscreen interface. Though Tesla stated that these were not for the driver, concerns arose as ‘Passenger Play’ could be enabled whilst the car was in motion, increasing the risk of crash should a reckless driver be tempted to play.

Towards the end of last year in December, Passenger play was disabled whilst the car is in motion. Nevertheless, Musk’s indication to expand his gaming system with tens of thousands available on Steam only but adds to safety concerns.

Due to the NHTSA investigation, Tesla has been left no choice but to roll back version 10.3 of its self-driving software over forward collision warnings. German regulators are also looking into worries around Tesla’s Autopilot, and the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (Geran Federal Motor Transport Authority) has confirmed it is opening an investigation.

Automatic lane changes across Europe in Tesla vehicles has forced European authorities to question the future legality of Autopilot on the road. This is problem that many other automakers, such as Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volvo, may face as they have all incorporated similar features.

As of yet, investigations are ongoing but it seems that more scrupulous legislation and rigorous testing will be required before the driver can quite hand over their reigns.