The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) has opened a preliminary evaluation into the performance of Autopilot during the fatal crash that occurred in a Model S. Tesla stresses that “this is the first known fatality in just over 130 million miles where Autopilot was activated. Among all vehicles in the US, there is a fatality every 94 million miles. Worldwide, there is a fatality approximately every 60 million miles. It is important to emphasize that the NHTSA action is simply a preliminary evaluation to determine whether the system worked according to expectations.”

Brake not applied

Tesla says it followed standard procedure in informing the NHTSA about the incident immediately after it occurred. “What we know is that the vehicle was on a divided highway with Autopilot engaged when a tractor trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to the Model S. Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied.”

The height of the trailer combined with its positioning across the road and the extremely rare circumstances of the impact caused the Model S to pass under the trailer, with the bottom of the trailer impacting the windshield of the Model S. Would that impact have occurred at the front or rear of the trailer, the advanced crash safety system would have been prevented serious injury. Tesla says the Autopilot system is meant as driver’s assistance, not to take over control of the car. Drivers need to remain alert at all times. The system is continually being developed to become even safer than it already is, the company states.

Another incident

There has been some serious criticism of Tesla following the fatal incident. It happened on May 7, and on May 18 the company issued new stocks. At this time the incident was both known and reported to the NHSTA by Tesla, but no public announcement or statement was made. A critical article in Fortune insinuated that this information had been held back so it could not negatively influence the value of the issued stocks.

According to Tesla’s Elon Musk, this was not the case. He chose not to share the information because neither Tesla or the NHTSA at that time knew what had caused the incident. Musk also feels the news about the incident was not material to the value of Tesla.

Recently, another serious accident involving a self-driving Tesla took place. In this case, a model X crashed into an concrete wall and flipped over. The driver and passenger survived the crash. Afterwards they told the police that the car was on Autopilot at the moment the incident occurred. The NHTSA is looking into this accident as well.

Nissan tries to be a leading party in the development of automated driving technology. ProPilot is the biggest step in autonomous driving Nissan will take in the coming years. It comes with two important technologies which bring ProPilot to life:

1. A laser scanner, which enables the car to navigate in the tightest spaces
2. A 360 degree view, 8 way camera system, which guides the car through intersections and other difficult situations

ProPilot

The ProPilot system changes lanes and keeps a safe distance between you and the car in front of you. At intersections, the car detects other vehicles and pedestrians. The system is able to make complicated turns, also on intersections without lanes.

“ProPilot gives you more freedom and choices”, Nissan states. “You can still drive whenever you want, but when you’d like, you can walk through your-email or help your kids with their homework.” The system is integrated in several steps, of which the final ProPilot in city will be available in 2020. “The technology will be applied to multiple models and available through mass production in all parts of the world.”

Forecast:

• Highway single lane pilot (2016)
• Highway multi-lane pilot (2018)
• ProPilot in the city (2020)

Watch the video about ProPilot:

Volvo believes the introduction of AD technology promises to reduce car accidents as well as to free up congested roads, reduce pollution and allow drivers to use their time in their cars more valuably.

Pioneering

The Swedish company, whose name has been synonymous with automotive safety ever since it invented the seat belt in 1959, is pioneering the development of autonomous driving systems as part of its aim that no one should be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo by the year 2020.

“Autonomous driving can make a significant contribution to road safety,” Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo told a seminar in Beijing on April 7, entitled ‘Autonomous driving – could China take the lead?’. “The sooner AD cars are on the roads, the sooner lives will start being saved.”

Regulations of autonomous driving

Mr Samuelsson welcomes the positive steps China has taken to put in place the development of autonomous driving technologies, but also encourages it to do more to try and speed up the implementation of the regulations that will oversee autonomously driving cars in the future.

“There are multiple benefits to AD cars,” said Mr Samuelsson. “That is why governments need to put in place legislation to allow AD cars onto the streets as soon as possible. The car industry cannot do it all by itself. We need governmental help.”

China

The introduction of AD cars promises to revolutionise China’s roads in four main areas – safety, congestion, pollution and time saving. Independent research has revealed that AD vehicles have the potential to reduce the number of car accidents significantly. Up to 90 per cent of all accidents are caused by human error, a factor which will be eradicated with AD cars.

In terms of congestion, AD cars allow traffic to move more smoothly, reducing traffic jams and by extension cutting dangerous emissions and the associated pollution. Lastly, reduced congestion saves drivers valuable time. Mr Samuelsson will welcome moves by regulators and car makers in the US and Europe to develop AD cars and infrastructures, but he will also encourage all the parties involved to work together more constructively to avoid patchwork global regulations, technological duplication and needless expense.

Work together

“AD is not just about car technology. We need the right rules and the right laws,” Mr Samuelsson says. “It is natural for us to work together. Our starting point is that both the public and private sectors stand to benefit from new technologies and industries, so it is better to build bridges and work together than to all go in different directions.”