Elon Musk complained about not being given enough credit for how many accidents Tesla Autopilot technology has prevented, as compared with those that have resulted in people dying.
Musk was honored as Time Magazine’s Person of the Year 2021. He spoke about the scrutiny that his company is under, especially over the accidents that were apparently caused by the use of self-driving tech.
Musk stated to Time, “There was something someone said to me when we started pursuing autonomy. Even if you save 90% of lives, 10% are going to sue.
Elon Musk has complained that Tesla does not get rewarded for lives its Autopilot technology saves but instead is blamed for people killed as NHTSA probes 12 US crashes linked to the technology that left one woman dead
“I believe it’s one those things that doesn’t reward you necessarily for the lives saved, but you will be held accountable for deaths that you haven’t saved,” he said.
Musk is considered the richest person in the world. Tesla’s value is $1 trillion. It is more valuable than Ford Motors and General Motors. Musk sold close to $13 billion in Tesla shares over the last week.
Tesla is the world’s leading EV manufacturer and has pushed both legacy carmakers as well as young people to switch to electric cars.
Tesla’s Autopilot technology is under investigation after being linked to 12 crashes since 2018. The NHTSA now investigates those 12 incidents.
Jenna Monet’s Tesla crashed into the backend of an unused fire engine at Interstate 70 in 2019.
Jenna Monet was 23 years old when her Tesla crashed into an parked fire truck on the right-hand side of the lane.
It has led to the families of drivers involved in fatal crashed suing the company while others take issue with Tesla allegedly ‘misrepresenting and using deceptive marketing for its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving services.’
Most smashes involve parked emergency cars, which leads to the speculation that flashing lights could confuse Autopilot’s sensors.
Musk insists that when it comes to self-driving technology, he has never misled or risked Tesla owner’s safety.
Musk said to Financial Times that he believes there aren’t any CEOs on the planet who cares as much about safety as he.
Tesla’s Autopilot makes driving safer by monitoring the surrounding vehicles and keeping it in the middle of the road.
According to the company, the car cannot drive itself. To avoid any accidents drivers must be attentive and keep their eyes on the road.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirms that the Tesla car was operating on autopilot.
Teslas using Autopilot, Traffic Aware Cruise Control, and Teslas hitting vehicles with Autopilot, or Traffic Aware Cruise Control, caused 11 fatalities. First responders had used flares, flashing lights or illuminated arrow boards to warn them of potential hazards.
Tesla’s Autopilot was used to stop a firetruck which had been partially blocked off the road. It flashed its lights and it appeared that Tesla was using Autopilot. Another crash was being handled at that time by crews.
NHTSA has reported that there have been crashes since then in Laguna Beach (California), Norwalk, Connecticut, Cloverdale and Indiana, West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, Cochise County Arizona, Charlotte, North Carolina; Montgomery County Texas; Lansing Michigan, and Miami, Florida.
Tesla claims that in order to activate autopilot, one must always be able to reach the wheel and take control of the system if it fails.
A car that detects no weight on its steering wheel will send a warning to the driver, reminding them about the rule. But it does not necessarily stop the car – at least, not immediately.
It takes about two minutes for some car enthusiast videos to notice that nobody is at the wheel.
One crash was reported for each 4.41 million mile driven by Autopilot in the second quarter 2021, compared to 1.2 million without.
An investigation was launched by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in January to examine 765,000 Teslas manufactured after 2014. The agency was informed that Full Self-Driving software was responsible for 12 first-responder car accidents that resulted in one death and 17 injuries.
In Cloverdale (Indiana), in December 2019, a deadly collision occurred. Jenna Monet was a passenger and Jenna Monet, 23 years old, died after her Tesla, driven by Derrick, crashed into the back of an engine parked at a station.
Tesla can’t detect hands at the wheel and will not allow it to drive on its own. This is why people put items on or lodge them there to fool Tesla.
To make it seem like they are still involved with the vehicle, other drivers placed water bottles under the steering wheel.
In one from 2019, it took the two minutes to detect no one was behind the wheel. After sending the driver an alert on screen, it then starts to beep loudly and finally slows down.
It took the vehicle 40 seconds to stop after it was prompted.
Tesla’s website doesn’t explain what happens when no one is driving while autopilot is activated.
“Before Autopilot can be enabled, the driver must agree to keep their hands on the wheel at all time and take full responsibility and control of the vehicle.
“Subsequently every time that the driver activates Autopilot they are reminded visually to “keep your hands on and the wheel” it states.