The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is requesting advanced driver assistance data from 12 automakers as it seeks to expand its research on Tesla autopilot. The government is investigating a dozen incidents in which Teslas has crashed into emergency vehicles.
In accordance with Automotive news, the agency’s Defects Investigation Office sent letters to a dozen major automakers, including Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen, requesting information about their driver assistance systems from level 2, in which the vehicle can simultaneously control the steering, braking and acceleration specific circumstances.
Automakers are asked to provide the number of vehicles with Level 2 systems that have been manufactured in the United States, as well as the total number of miles traveled with the systems involved and a recent list of changes or upgrades. NHTSA also solicits customer complaints, field and accident reports, and any claims related to Level 2 systems.
The data request comes less than two weeks after NHTSA sent an order to Tesla to provide data on the operation of its autopilot system, including details on which of the vehicles sold are equipped with autopilot and operating parameters. of the system. The agency’s research on Tesla could have far-reaching implications for Tesla, which has pushed the boundaries by releasing experimental software to untrained customers to advance its vision of autonomous driving.
NHTSA research covers approximately 765,000 Tesla vehicles released from 2014 to 2021. The agency is studying 12 crashes in which Tesla owners using the company’s autopilot functions crashed into emergency vehicles stationary, resulting in 17 injuries and one death. Most of these incidents took place after dark, with the software ignoring scene control measures, including warning lights, flares, cones, and an illuminated arrow plate.
Tesla has until October 22 to deliver the data. U.S.-based carmakers, such as Ford, GM and Stellantis, have until Nov. 3 and all other auto companies, such as Toyota, Subaru, Nissan and Honda, have until Nov. 17. Unresponsive carmakers could receive civil penalties of up to $ 115 million.