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October 27, 2021
It is a noble goal. That goal is to radically reduce, or eliminate, traffic deaths on American highways. Elon Musk says that's what he wants to do. It’s what regulators and investigators want too.
So why are the country’s preeminent crash investigation body and the highest-valued automaker, Tesla, at each other’s throats? Because there are extremely different views on how we achieve the goal of zero traffic deaths.
A Tesla Model X crash in Mountain View, California which is one of 13 Tesla crashes the NTSB is investigating. (Credit: KTVU/AP)
AUTO AUTONOMY
This debate is about autonomy in automobiles, also known as self-driving cars. Musk has been pushing the envelope for years. First, he called his system “Autopilot.” That infuriated regulators. There are specific standards that must be met to achieve full autonomy and they thought suggesting a driver could just put it on Autopilot was false advertising for the abilities of that system.
But the Tesla CEO has long argued that the faster we get to autonomy, the faster we save more lives. As with his space company he is a disrupter. Still, as of today all cars, including Teslas, are semi-autonomous.
(Credit: Tesla)
"FULL SELF DRIVING"
Musk is now upping the ante. He’s touting the new Tesla FSD- Full Self Driving- system, which is the next iteration of Autopilot. Even though the Tesla website says these systems, “are intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment,” a Tesla video shows the driver with hands on knees. The company proclaims Autopilot and FSD, “do not make the vehicle autonomous.” Musk admits while the systems are getting better, drivers might be lulled into complacency.
Elon Musk speaking with Sandy Munro about reaching autonomy in automobiles. (Credit: Munro Live)
Musk’s pitch for FSD came a couple weeks before Tesla completed a more than $4 billion deal with Hertz to provide rental cars. That helped send Tesla’s value over $1 trillion and solidified Musk’s current position as richest person in the world.
TRILLION DOLLAR COMPANY
But, the same day Tesla hit a trillion, Musk got a scathing letter from the Chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) saying Musk is not doing enough for safety. In fact, the Chairwoman told me if Musk, “truly made safety a priority he’d be even more successful.” That from a board that has initiated 13 investigations into crashes or incidents involving Tesla vehicles. Some of those are connected to Autopilot and others to battery fires.
Chairwoman of the NTSB Jennifer Homendy. (Credit: NTSB)
DRIVER MONITORING
The criticism from NTSB is all about “driver monitoring.” Driver monitoring is important in these early stages of autonomy until we get a “full self driving” vehicle. Four years ago the NTSB asked 6 auto companies to respond to a recommendation to do more about driver monitoring in these semi-autonomous systems. According to Homendy’s letter, only Tesla did not respond.
If you own or have driven a car made in the past 5 years, you have experienced some of those driver-assist, semi-autonomous systems. Most require the driver to be touching the steering wheel. If not, within a few seconds a warning or a chime will remind the driver to put their hands on the wheel.
Edited video of Full Self Driving provided by Tesla in April 2019. (Credit: Telsa)
There are video and audio warnings in Teslas. There is also a full library of videos on how to hack and avoid Tesla driver warnings. Engage Autopilot and (as we’ve seen on several YouTube videos) drivers can undertake activities other than driving.
Homendy says she spent some time at Tesla in Fremont, California and experienced Autopilot on the road. She says Tesla’s response to driver monitoring questions is that it has cameras in the car watching the driver. The NTSB Chair doesn't believe that is enough.
(Credit: Tesla)
ASKING TESLA TO DO MORE
What Homendy and her Board want is for Tesla to design systems that will require the driver to stay more engaged. The Chair told me, “It’s not enough to give a warning in a manual, or a tweet, that a driver needs to pay attention to the vehicle. Driver monitoring needs to be designed in.”
I have not seen a response from Tesla to the letter chiding the auto company and asking it to do more to monitor drivers of its vehicles.
Interestingly, the NTSB only makes recommendations. The regulator here is the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (NHTSA). Musk has commented about the nominee to head NHTSA. Missy Cummings was a Navy fighter pilot and Duke professor who has been critical of Tesla’s Autopilot. Musk entered the fray with a Tweet, “Objectively, her track record is extremely biased against Tesla.”
Autonomy is coming though not as quickly as some hope or project, and the road to self-driving cars will be bumpy.
NTSB Chair Homendy's letter: