Following a request from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the US federal agency responsible for road safety, Tesla will deactivate a Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature. This allows vehicles to slowly pass a stop sign without coming to a complete stop.
The feature allows vehicles to burn stop signs
The feature was rolled out to the Full Self-Driving system last October. Tesla allows drivers to choose between three distinct driving modes: Chill, Average and Assertive. It is in this last mode that the function is available, this one allowing in particular ” make more frequent lane changes, stay in passing lanes and make stops in place “.
Waymo refuses to release data on accidents of its autonomous vehicles
NHTSA made the decision to request withdrawal functionality because ” not stopping at a stop sign can increase the risk of an accident “. As explained The Vergeshe ” allows Tesla cars to “cross one-way intersections at speeds of up to 5.6 mph (note: 9 km/h) before coming to a complete stop” if certain criteria are met. In particular, there must be no “moving cars” nor “pedestrians or cyclists” near the intersection, that the visibility is “sufficient for the vehicle” and that the roads located at the intersection are limited to 30 mph (note: 48 km/h) or less “.
However, failure to stop at a stop sign is a violation of the law in every state in the country, which logically prompted the NHTSA to take action. By incorporating this feature into its driving system, Tesla has drawn the wrath of several people. Philip Koopman, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, explained that four-way stop signs were commonly placed to protect intersections for children when there is no crossing guard, reports. Associated Press.
According to him, Tesla’s machine learning system can identify objects by mistake. ” What happens when the FSD decides that a child crossing the street is not “relevant” and does not stop? This is dangerous behavior that should never have been put in vehicles “, he continues. For Jonathan Adkins, Executive Director of the Governors Association for Security, [Tesla] keep pushing the boundaries of security to see what they can do, and they’ve really pushed this far. Each time, it’s a little more obvious. Good to see NHTSA fighting back “.
For its part, the manufacturer ensures that it is not aware of any injuries or accidents caused by the functionality concerned.
Tesla signed a record year 2021. Photography: Priscilla Du Preez / Unsplash
Full Self-Driving is far from unanimous
The Full Self-Driving mode, currently deployed in beta at a price of 12,000 dollars, is not its first controversy. His name, which translates to ” autonomous driving is indeed misleading because it is not a fully autonomous level 4 system, but a level 2 assisted driving device. Moreover, the company Waymo, itself specialized in driving autonomous, has decided to no longer use the term Self-Driving because of its use by the firm of Elon Musk.
California authorities recently announced that they are embarking on a new protocol to determine if the FSD can be considered an autonomous driving system and thus be subject to the relevant legislation. Indeed, they raise concerns about the use of this mode by drivers, who may be misled by its name and therefore be less vigilant.
Currently, FSD is being tested by drivers of nearly 60,000 vehicles in the United States, up from only around 2,000 in Q3 2021.
Inconvenience for Tesla, but it does not affect its performance
The removal of the feature affects approximately 54,000 vehicles. This is not the first time that Tesla has had such trouble: the company has been forced to recall nearly 300,000 vehicles in China because of a flaw in Autopilot, the assisted driving system in Tesla cars. Other recalls had to be carried out in other countries due to camera and trunk defects, suspension separation and other problems.
Also, the NHTSA is carrying out an extensive investigation on the Autopilot as it has been involved in different traffic accidents. Despite these inconveniences, Tesla is in iron health: last week, the manufacturer revealed that it had recorded $5.5 billion in revenue in 2021, the highest amount in its history.