In a letter to California Senator Lena Gonzalez, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the government agency that administers motor vehicle registration and driver’s licenses, says it is evaluating the possibility of submitting the Full Self-Driving from Tesla to much stricter regulations in California.
Currently, Full Self-Driving is considered a Level 2 system
California is the state with the most self-driving companies testing. Still, of the sixty companies that are driving self-driving vehicles on California roads, only a handful are allowed to do so without any seasoned safety drivers behind the wheel; this is notably the case of Waymo, Google’s sister company.
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Currently available in beta for $10,000, Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system does not qualify as an autonomous vehicle under California jurisdiction, although a car from the brand has gone through the ‘State with this mode enabled autonomously. After carrying out various tests in 2020 and consulting experts from the University of Berkeley, the DMV has indeed concluded that the FSD is a level 2 system, that is to say a semi-autonomous device which requires the presence of a driver, and that he did not allow the vehicle to drive by itself.
Furthermore, Tesla assured the DMV that the FSD has many limitations, namely the inability to recognize or react to ” static objects, road debris, emergency vehicles, construction zones, large uncontrolled intersections, adverse weather conditions, complicated vehicles in the driving path and unmapped roads “, which also influenced the organization in its choice, reports The Verge.
Thanks to this categorization, the FDS is not subject to the same regulations as autonomous vehicles, and Tesla thus has its system tested by its users themselves, and not by safety drivers. However, this may change…
Full Self-Driving mode is currently available in beta. Photography: Bram Van Oost: Unsplash
The DMV reconsiders its decision
In his letter to the senator, California DMV Director Steve Gordon said the decision would be reviewed “as a result of recent software updates, videos showing unsafe use of this technology, investigations opened by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the opinion of other experts”.
” If the feature’s capabilities meet the definition of an autonomous vehicle under California law and regulations, the DMV will take steps to ensure that Tesla is operating within California’s permits. appropriate autonomous vehicle “, he continues. In this case, things would get very complicated for Elon Musk’s firm, which is in explosive health with nearly 1 million vehicles delivered in 2021.
For example, companies that test self-driving vehicles in California are required to report any accidents, no matter how minor, as well as how often drivers have been forced into taking control of their self-driving vehicles. It would also trigger a background check on drivers to ensure they have a clean driving record.
The term “Self-Driving” questioned
This decision on the part of the Californian DMV could delay the deployment of Full Self-Driving, which the firm has been promoting for several years now. If the other American states have much less advanced legislation in terms of autonomous vehicles, California’s decision could however be emulated in the country.
Additionally, Steve Gordon clarified that the term Full Self-Driving was also subject to review as it could be confusing. This is not the first time that this problem has been raised: in early 2021, Waymo announced that it would no longer use the term “ self-driving when talking about his vehicles because of its use by Tesla, which could sow doubt among drivers. This is not the first regulatory annoyance the company has faced. NHTSA, the federal highway safety agency, is currently investigating the Autopilot system following several crashes in which it has been involved.