Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/716013
16 commercial carrier journal | august 2016 JOURNAL NEWS DOT investigating fatal crash of autonomous vehicle T he U.S. Department of Transportation is investigating a fatal Florida crash in which a Tesla Model S – driving in the vehicle's self-driving Autopilot mode – failed to brake and slammed into the side of a Class 8 tractor-trailer, killing the Tesla's occupant. In the incident's wake, a coalition of auto safety advocates called on President Obama to stop what they called his "administration's undue haste to get autonomous vehicle tech- nology to the road" until enforceable safety standards are in place. Tesla vehicles are all-electric sedans that can operate in semi-autonomous modes in certain situations. The truck involved in the crash pulled in front of the Tesla to take a left across a divided highway. The Tesla's Autopilot system failed to brake to avoid the collision and drove underneath the truck's trailer. The trailer's "white side … against a brightly lit sky" caused the car's Autopilot system to fail to register the full-sized tractor-trailer cross- ing the highway, Tesla said. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects has announced an inquiry into the fatal crash, which took place in early May. Tesla said its Autopilot system is still in public beta testing and that drivers are warned before using the system that the technology is new and to not take their hands off the wheel. Reports indicated the vehicle's driver was watching a movie on his iPad at the time of the crash. "When drivers activate Autopilot, the acknowledgment box explains, among other things, that Autopilot 'is an assist feature that requires you to keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times,' and that 'you need to maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle' while using it," Tesla said. The letter to Obama was signed by Joan Claybrook, president emeritus of Public Citizen and former NHTSA administrator; Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety; Rosemary Shahan, presi- dent of Consumers for Auto Safety and Reliability; and John M. Simpson, Privacy Project director for Consumer Watchdog. The letter was sent as DOT and NHTSA prepared to issue new guid- ance on autonomous vehicle tech- nologies. The group called for the guidance to be withheld until a full investigation of the Tesla crash is completed. "[DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx and NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind] have apparently fallen victim to the hype of the developers of self-driving cars at the expense of public safety," the letter reads. "We call on you to halt the implementation of a self-driving vehicle policy until adequate Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards covering autonomous tech- nologies are implemented through a public rulemaking process." The group further called on NHTSA to gather facts from the Tesla crash, as well as test data from other develop- ers of autonomous technologies, and start a formal rulemaking process that results in enforceable rules covering autonomous technology. Tesla said this was its first fatal acci- dent in more than 130 million miles of Autopilot testing, well above the U.S. average of one death per 90 mil- lion miles and the worldwide average of one death per 60 million miles. – James Jaillet and Jason Cannon Tesla said that drivers are warned before using its Autopilot system that the technology is new and to not take their hands off the wheel.