If you didn’t know better, you could reasonably assume that Tesla autopilot and full autonomous driving are the names of technologies that allow the car to drive safely, even though this is not true and although the gap between consumer expectations and reality it is dangerous and bad. It seems that the new head of the NTSB agrees.
Jennifer Homendy started on the NTSB this month as president and, right on the doorstep, in her first interview, she says that maybe it’s bad to call semi-autonomous systems autopilot and full autonomous driving. Well, she didn’t say it specifically, trying to stay diplomatic and all, but that’s what she meant and, for me, she puts the responsibility where it should be: to the carmakers, not the consumers. The interview was published Friday by Bloomberg.
“Whether it’s Tesla or anyone else, it’s up to those manufacturers to be honest about what their technology does and doesn’t do,” Homendy told Bloomberg News in his first interview since he was sworn in on Dec. 13. August.
Homendy, 49, a member of the Capitol Hill board, who has been a board member of the NTSB since 2018, praised Tesla’s cooperation during several previous NTSB investigations and said he did not want to distinguish the company. He cited television ads of various vehicles that create the false impression that they are able to drive and brake on their own when drivers still have to control the systems. At a recent conference attended by state highway safety officials, most said they thought some models might work on their own.
“I was blown away,” Homendy said.
This is what happens when you name level 2 semi-autonomous systems as full autopilot, meaning people will believe you, including even road safety officials. And while the NTSB’s main mission is to investigate accidents and issue safety recommendations, it’s refreshing to hear a public official speak in clear terms about semi-autonomous systems, but also rebuild the NTSB itself, as it’s probably needed more than ever in this was from non-space tourism.
Homendy said he plans to seek NTSB budget increases so he can add staff and capacity. Authorization from the Congressional Security Board, which typically establishes agency funding, is renewable next year. The amount of increases requested has not yet been determined, he said.
“The things the public is based on: timely reports, good recommendations, what has happened in an investigation as soon as possible, which require resources,” he said.
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“We are in a time of transformative change,” he said. “But you know, I feel a lot about innovation and a lot about investment. I don’t hear much about security. This is where we come in. Safety must be the driver. That is our role. “
Now, this could very easily be read as a government bureaucrat arguing why his agency needs even more money, but the NTSB budget it was $ 138 million for the last fiscal year, and even if this were to double, this would mean a drop in the deposit for the federal government in general. Instead, he is said to be more like a serious official who wants more resources to make things safer for all of us. Imagine that.