4hw.com.cn reported on May 3, Beijing time that the U.S. traffic safety regulatory agency on Wednesday refuted Tesla's claim that the agency had said Tesla autopilot could significantly reduce traffic accidents. The regulator said it did not assess the performance of the assisted driving system in a 2017 report.
According to Tesla, autopilot is an advanced cruise control system that can handle some driving tasks and warn drivers to be alert at all times.
The national highway traffic safety administration released the statement Wednesday and is investigating a fatal accident in March with the National Transportation Safety Commission. In this accident, the driver activated the autopilot function.
In response to the accident, Tesla referred to an investigation report issued by the national highway traffic safety administration in 2017. In May 2016, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigated the accident and released the report after a Tesla car crash when autopilot was used, resulting in the death of its owner. According to the report, the traffic accident rate was reduced by 40% after the automobile was installed with autopilot's "autosteer" function, and the number was based on the activation data of Tesla's air bag.
However, the NHTSA said on Wednesday that its report 'does not assess whether autosteer is enabled or not, nor does it assess the effectiveness of the technology. '
It said that its 2017 report only made a 'rough comparison' on the utilization rate of airbags before and after the installation of autosteer function, so as to determine whether the traffic accident rate of Tesla models equipped with autosteer function is higher. Therefore, 'further investigation is necessary'.
Tesla declined to comment.
Tesla said in March that the U.S. government said a year ago that its first generation of autopilot could reduce traffic accidents by up to 40%. Tesla added: 'internal data confirms that autopilot's recent upgrade has steadily improved the reliability of the system. '