{"id":1186,"date":"2022-03-10T15:17:39","date_gmt":"2022-03-10T15:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/10\/tesla-insists-autopilot-and-full-self-driving-are-safe-but-us-senators-arent-buying-it\/"},"modified":"2022-03-10T15:17:40","modified_gmt":"2022-03-10T15:17:40","slug":"tesla-insists-autopilot-and-full-self-driving-are-safe-but-us-senators-arent-buying-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/10\/tesla-insists-autopilot-and-full-self-driving-are-safe-but-us-senators-arent-buying-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Tesla insists Autopilot and Full Self-Driving are safe, but US senators aren\u2019t buying it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/3\/9\/22969297\/tesla-autopilot-fsd-letter-safety-blumenthal-markey<\/a>
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Tesla\u2019s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features are safe, the company insists in a letter to two top Senate Democrats. Like, really safe. Safer than human driving. Unfortunately, the senators aren\u2019t really buying it. <\/p>\n

\u201cTesla\u2019s Autopilot and FSD Capability features enhance the ability of our cusotmes [sic] to drive safer than the average driver in the U.S.,\u201d Rohan Patel, senior director of public policy at Tesla, writes in a March 4th letter to US Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Ed Markey (D-MA). (The letter was first reported by Reuters<\/em><\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Tesla is responding to the senators\u2019 letter to the company\u2019s CEO Elon Musk last month raising \u201csignificant concerns\u201d about Autopilot and FSD. Blumenthal and Markey have also called on federal regulators to crack down on Tesla<\/a> to prevent further misuse of the company\u2019s advanced driver-assist features. <\/p>\n

Patel describes Autopilot and FSD as Level 2 systems \u201cwhich require the constant monitoring and attention of the driver.\u201d These features are \u201ccapable of performing some but not all of the Dynamic Driving Tasks (DDT) that can be performed by human drivers,\u201d he notes. (That would seem to contradict Tesla\u2019s overly optimistic branding of the product as \u201cFull Self-Driving.\u201d) <\/p>\n

In his letter, Patel provides a more nuanced (and most likely legally vetted) overview of Autopilot and FSD than what is typically provided by Musk on Twitter and in other public comments. In a recent earnings call, for example, Musk claimed that FSD will be safer than human driving by the end of 2022. <\/p>\n

Patel doesn\u2019t apply the same deadline, but he does insist that Tesla\u2019s advanced driving features are safer than human driving. He notes:<\/p>\n

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For example, in the fourth quarter of 2021, Tesla recorded one crash for every 4.31 million miles driven in which our drivers were using Autopilot technology, compared to the NHTSA most recent data, which shows an automobile crash occurs every 484,000 miles. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Tesla occasionally releases safety reports that echo these same statistics in an effort to frame Autopilot as safer than human driving. But experts note that these stats are largely meaningless, as Autopilot is primarily used for highway driving. Comparing it to national statistics that include a wide variety of driving environments, including residential and urban driving, gives Tesla an unfair advantage. <\/p>\n

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