Article author:
Reuters
David Shepardson and Hyunjoo Jin
WASHINGTON — U.S. motor vehicle safety regulators told Tesla Inc on Thursday that it has developed an in-vehicle camera aimed at monitoring driver awareness. I asked you to answer the question. He examines 830,000 Tesla vehicles, which employ the automaker's advanced driver assistance system called Autopilot.
The U.S. Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is evaluating Autopilot's performance after previously identifying dozens of crashes in which Tesla vehicles collided and brought emergency vehicles to a halt.
In June, the company upgraded the probe to engineering analysis. This is a required step before requesting a recall.
NHTSA's page 9 letter requires Tesla to answer questions by 12 October about "the role of cabin cameras in enhancing driver engagement/attention." ing.
According to Tesla, the cabin camera (the camera above his rear-view mirror) can determine driver inattentiveness and help keep his eyes on the road when the autopilot is engaged. It emits a warning sound to alert the driver.
NHTSA said it was seeking information about the cabin camera's "impact on the type and timing of driver engagement alerts" and "recoverable data elements that demonstrate that impact."
The agency said it was seeking clarification on a "design decision" in implementing driver engagement."
Regulators said Tesla vehicles We are investigating whether the driver's attention is sufficiently aroused. Officials said in June that they had evidence that drivers followed Tesla's alert strategy in most of the crashes under investigation, raising questions about its effectiveness.
Press Tesla, which has dissolved his office, did not respond to a request for comment.
Consumer Reports, when evaluating Tesla's driver attention cameras in the second half of 2021, found that "when a driver is using Autopilot and Fully Self-Driving (FSD), We have found that it is insufficient to ensure that we are paying ) feature. "
magazine said, 'It may block the in-vehicle camera, and the car will not issue an alert, slow the car, or shut down the system.'"
In June, Consumer Reports said the company had installed an over-the-air update that warned when his FSD was on and the camera was covered, but Autopilot said it wasn't working.
Autopilot aims to enable a car to automatically steer, accelerate and brake within its lane, while FSD allows the vehicle to obey traffic signals and change lanes. make it possible.
In addition to flaw investigations, NHTSA has initiated 38 special investigations since 2016 into crashes involving Tesla vehicles and suspected use of Autopilot and other advanced systems. Did. A total of 19 deaths have been reported in these Tesla-related investigations.
Separately, the California Department of Transportation has accused Tesla of mispromoting its ability to provide control of self-driving cars.
Tesla said in a notice filed with the state released Thursday that it is seeking a hearing on the complaint and intends to present its defense.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles is seeking remedies, including suspending Tesla's license to sell cars in the state and requiring Tesla to compensate drivers. (Reporting by David Shepardson and Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)