Investigation: Tesla’s Autopilot and Distracted Driver Cause Model X Crash
The US National Transportation Safety Board concludes in a report that the fatal crash in March 2018, in which a driver hit a barrier on a US highway, was partly due to a distracted driver and limitations of the Autopilot.
In the report, the NTSB targets Tesla, among others. According to the investigation board, Tesla’s Autopilot was insufficiently able to monitor the extent to which the driver was actually engaged in the task of driving. In addition, the timing of the system’s warnings was insufficient to persuade the driver to react and thus prevent or mitigate the crash. According to the NTSB, new requirements are needed for driver assistance systems that partly offer self-driving functions according to level 2. Tesla must develop applications that monitor the level of driver involvement and attentiveness more effectively.
In addition, based on several crashes investigated, the NTSB determines that Tesla’s Autopilot is systematically used by drivers in circumstances for which the system is not intended. “Despite the system’s known limits, Tesla does not restrict where Autopilot can be used,” the council said. According to the council, Tesla should build in safety safeguards on this point.
The driver is also specifically mentioned as the cause in the report. According to the report, he was likely distracted while driving by playing a game on his cell phone. As a result, he did not notice that the Autopilot was maneuvering the Model X into a section of the highway that was not intended for cars. This happened several times in the weeks leading up to the crash.
His phone was an iPhone provided to the driver by Apple; he used to work for Apple. According to the NTSB, Apple as an employer also bears some blame because the company had no policy to limit the use of cell phones while driving. According to the council, electronic device manufacturers have the ability to lock down highly distracting features on wearable devices if they are used while driving. Such a feature should be on all devices in the eyes of the NTSB standard.
The ripple-tube obstacle protector that sat at the front of the concrete barrier and could have mitigated the impact of the collision was in a damaged condition from a previous accident and therefore malfunctioning. The driver probably would have been alive had that ripple tube obstacle protector been in good condition, the NTSB says. The organization also blames Tesla that the Model X’s collision avoidance systems were not designed to recognize the ripple tube obstacle protector. On that point, the council also blames the National Highway Traffic Safety, which has not made this a hard requirement.
The accident involved a separation in the highway, with a barrier separating the highway from an exit. The Model X landed on the stretch right in front of the barrier, which likely looked like a normal roadway to Tesla’s camera systems. Partly because the ripple tube obstacle protector was not recognized, the car crashed into the barrier, after which the Model X was rammed by two other cars.