Nearly 400 crashes have been tied to advanced driver-assistance technologies in the past year, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported Wednesday. NHTSA issued a warning against using the statistics to contrast different automakers. They claimed that the data was not weighted according to the volume of each manufacturer’s vehicles employing the systems or their mileage.
Teslas using the self-driving feature Autopilot were involved in 273 accidents
Teslas cars using the self-driving feature Autopilot or the Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta were involved in 273 accidents out of the 392 crashes reported. Other cars equipped with driver-assistance systems were also involved in incidents. It included Honda vehicles in 90, Subarus in 10, and Ford Motor, General Motors, BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai, and Porsche vehicles each involved in five or fewer cases.
Tesla may have a high crash rate because it employs telematics to track its cars. It obtains real-time crash information. (https://emdrprofessionaltraining.com) The NHTSA stated that because other automakers lack this capability, their submissions may be delayed or incomplete.
More than 100 automakers and autonomous vehicle technology companies were ordered by the NHTSA in June 2021 to report serious crashes as soon as they become aware of them. They were supposed to reveal less serious crashes by the 15th day of the following month. The organization is analyzing the systems’ functionality to determine whether new restrictions could be required.
Out of the 98 crashes with injury reports, 11 resulted in serious injuries. Five of the Tesla incidents were fatal.
The 130 total crashes for self-driving systems included 108 with other cars and 11 with “vulnerable” road users like cyclists and pedestrians, the report said.
New vehicle technologies have the potential to help prevent crashes: NHTSA
“New vehicle technologies have the potential to help prevent crashes, reduce crash severity and save lives, and the department is interested in fostering technologies that are proven to do so; collecting this data is an important step in that effort,” NHTSA Administrator Dr. Steven Cliff said in the news release. “As we gather more data, NHTSA will be able to identify any emerging risks or trends better and learn more about how these technologies are performing in the real world,” Cliff added.
Cliff told reporters that conclusions can’t be drawn from the data collected so far because it does not take into account factors like the number of cars from each manufacturer that are on U.S. roads and equipped with these types of technologies.
The NHTSA will continue to collect data on crashes involving these driver-assistance technologies and use it when developing any rules or requirements for their design and use, Cliff said.
