The fatal Tesla S accident that happened on May 7 definitely took both Tesla and autonomous car enthusiasts by surprise. Reports have been flowing in since then, with some stating that the driver was actually watching a Harry Potter film while the car was driving, while others focused more on Elon Musk’s reaction, who was quick to defend the autopilot following the fatality. Even though the crash was definitely a tragedy, most seem to agree that it could have been avoided if the driver paid more attention to the road, but the National Transportation Safety Board wants to conduct an in-depth investigation of its own in order to determine if autonomous driving systems have any flaws in general.
This doesn’t mean that self-driving cars are going to be banned, and we don’t even know if the investigation will actually cause any restrictions. Actually, it looks like the board has been asking for more automation for quite some time, since these systems would probably be a lot better at avoiding collisions if they would have the freedom to do so. It’s very likely that the Board will ask for widespread use of advanced sensors, including lidar, as well as more rigorous testing methods and other solutions that could potentially minimize the chances of an accident.
Would you trust a self-driving car to drive you around on a regular basis, or would you rather be in complete control at all times?
The first of many investigations that will have humans banned from manual driving