[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The U.S. government has launched a major investigation into Tesla's autonomous driving feature, the 'Autopilot' system, according to reports by The New York Times (NYT) and others on the 16th (local time).
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has officially begun an investigation targeting 765,000 Tesla vehicles produced from 2014 to this year, covering four models (Model Y, Model X, Model S, Model 3).
This investigation focuses on Tesla's Autopilot system, which is capable of automatically driving, accelerating, and braking on the road as part of its driver assistance features.
Previously, in May 2016, a fatal accident occurred in Florida where a Tesla Model S, operating in Autopilot mode, collided with a semi-trailer, resulting in the driver's death. At that time, U.S. transportation authorities determined that the responsibility lay with the driver, not the autonomous driving system or the manufacturer.
Since then, 11 accidents related to Autopilot have occurred consecutively, with an increase in deaths and injuries. However, U.S. transportation authorities have maintained for years that there are no defects or liabilities on the part of the autonomous driving system or the manufacturer.
The NYT predicted that depending on the results of this investigation, Tesla could be forced to issue recalls or modify the system.
Raj Rajkumar, a robotics professor at Carnegie Mellon University, pointed out, "Autopilot has major flaws, such as insufficient driver safeguards," adding, "The authorities should have started the investigation much earlier."
NHTSA explained that most of these accidents occurred because Tesla's driver assistance features cause recognition and judgment impairments, such as warning lights, when it gets dark.
An NHTSA spokesperson stated, "The investigation is in a preliminary stage and is focused on revealing additional information about previous accidents," emphasizing, "Drivers need to understand that commercial vehicles cannot operate autonomously."
Recently, NHTSA mandated Tesla to regularly report accidents related to advanced driver assistance features like Autopilot or autonomous driving systems.
Meanwhile, Tesla has not issued an official statement regarding this investigation. Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, has previously dismissed the possibility of defects, stating that accidents occurring during Autopilot operation are "unrelated to our system."
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