Tesla and its competitors score poorly on self-driving technology. By Reuters
© Reuters. A Tesla logo is seen on the steering wheel of an electric car at a dealership in Durango, northern Spain, on October 30, 2023. REUTERS/Vincent West
2/2
joseph white
DETROIT (Reuters) – Tesla’s (NASDAQ:) Autopilot and Full Self-Driving technologies and nine other assisted driving systems sold by major automakers are rated “poor” by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a new study released on Tuesday shows. I received it.
IIHS, the insurance industry’s safety research arm, also said there is no evidence based on crash data that Autopilot or other driver assistance systems have any real safety benefits.
“We can look at insurance claims data. We can look at vehicles with and without these systems and determine that claims are not decreasing as a result of these advanced systems,” IIHS President David Harkey told Reuters. said. .
By comparison, he said, there is evidence that automatic emergency braking systems reduce rear-end crashes by 50% and accidents in which vehicles hit pedestrians by 30%.
Tesla and CEO Elon Musk have said that Teslas with Autopilot are about 10 times safer than the U.S. average and five times safer than Teslas without the technology enabled.
Federal regulators are investigating nearly 1,000 accidents in which Tesla’s Autopilot was used. The civil suit, scheduled for trial in California next week, is the latest on Tesla’s strategy of blaming crashes on drivers who failed to heed the EV maker’s warnings to pay attention to the road when Autopilot or full self-driving technology is engaged. It will be a test.
Tesla did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The IIHS study evaluated 14 driver assistance systems from nine automakers against standards it developed in-house. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not have official standards governing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), in industry parlance.
“There are no federal regulations, there are no consistent guidelines,” Harkey said. “That’s why we have these safeguards in place.”
Of the systems tested by IIHS, only one received an acceptable rating. This is the Lexus Teammate with advanced drive features that was offered in a handful of models last year. toyota Motor (NYSE:) luxury Lexus LS hybrid sedan.
“Toyota continues to aim to improve vehicle safety,” the company said in a statement. “As part of that effort, Toyota considers performance in third-party testing programs such as NHTSA’s New Vehicle Evaluation Program and IIHS’ Top Safety Pick Program, among other things.”
GM’s Super Cruise and Nissan’s (OTC:) “ProPILOT Assist with Navi-link,” available on the 2023-2024 Ariya electric vehicle, received a “average” overall rating.
“We are evaluating the results of our first partially automated safety device test and will continue to collaborate with IIHS on all issues related to customer safety,” Nissan said.
GM said in a statement that Super Cruise is “intended to enhance the driving experience” rather than a safety feature.
A diverse group of assisted driving systems from Tesla, Mercedes-Benz (OTC:), BMW (ETR:), Nissan, Ford (NYSE:), GM, Hyundai (OTC:)’s Genesis brand and Geely’s Volvo (OTC:) Cars brand. said it scored “good” on all specific elements of the IIHS test, but received an overall rating of “poor.”
“Rather than assessing the performance of driver assistance systems, this new IIHS testing method focuses on safety measures to prevent misuse,” Mercedes said in a statement. “We take the consequences of the IIHS Partial Automation Protection Rating very seriously.”
Harkey said automakers can improve their safety ratings by adopting existing technologies for features such as driver monitoring and attention warnings to achieve “good” scores.
IIHS said Tesla and other automakers are improving system performance. Tesla has revised its Autopilot software under the federal recall agreement, and IIHS will test the updated system, Harkey said.
“We will certainly embrace the results of these tests as our cars and systems continue to evolve,” BMW spokesman Jay Hanson said Monday. BMW now offers more sophisticated driver assistance systems than those tested by IIHS on certain U.S. models.
The Genesis GV80 SUV, which launches in the U.S. this spring, will be the Hyundai luxury brand’s first model to be equipped with an interior camera that monitors the driver’s face and eyes during assisted driving. “These improvements will also be rolled out to future Genesis products in the coming months and years,” the company said.
