Tesla is facing a new lawsuit from parents of a motorcyclist who was killed in a 2022 crash. The Tesla Model 3 was on autopilot on a road in Utah when it struck the back of a Harley Davidson driven by Landon Embry who was just 34. The car was traveling approximately 75-80 miles per hour at the time of impact.
While the idea of fully autonomous vehicles has captivated the public for years, the reality of self-driving cars has fallen short of expectations. Despite significant advancements in technology, autopilot vehicles do not seem ready for widespread adoption in the real world.
Numerous accidents and issues have emerged since their debut, raising concerns about safety and reliability.
Below are several reports from over the years of autonomous failures on our roads.
In Seattle in April 2024 a Tesla Model S was in full self-driving mode when it struck and killed a 28-year old motorcyclist. The driver admitted to looking at his cell phone while using the driver assist feature.
In August 2023, two notable accidents involving Cruise autonomous vehicles occurred in San Francisco. These incidents prompted the California Department of Motor Vehicles to request that Cruise reduce its driverless taxi fleet by half pending investigations. Such events underscore the ongoing challenges faced by self-driving technology in complex urban environments.
In March 2018 an Uber self-driving car struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona. This tragic event highlighted the limitations of the technology and the potential consequences of its failures. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation revealed that the vehicle’s software failed to properly identify the pedestrian and did not initiate braking in time to prevent the collision.
In May 2016, a Tesla Model S operating on Autopilot crashed into a tractor-trailer in Florida, resulting in the driver’s death. The NTSB found that the Autopilot system was not designed to detect crossing traffic and that the driver was overly reliant on the technology.
Statistics paint a concerning picture of the current state of autonomous vehicles.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that self-driving vehicles are two times more likely to get in accidents than traditional cars.
Recent data shows the following statistics:
- There are an average of 9.1 crashes in driverless vehicles per million vehicle miles driven.
- There are an average of 4.2 crashes in conventional vehicles per million miles driven.
There has been at least 13 Tesla crashes that resulted in one or more deaths, and many additional crashes that involved serious injuries.
In December 2023, Tesla implemented its larger recall ever that covered over 2 million US vehicles. The recall was to implement software updates to make drivers more attentive to the road when using Autopilot. Government documents filed by Tesla say the online software change will increase warnings and alerts to drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel.
California law requires self-driving companies to disclose all significant accidents, providing valuable insights into their operational safety. Waymo, formerly the Google Self-Driving Car Project, has demonstrated a relatively good safety record, with most of its reported incidents involving minor, low-speed collisions primarily attributed to other drivers.
Waymo’s driverless fleet has experienced:
- 17 low-speed collisions where another vehicle hit a stationary Waymo
- 9 collisions where another vehicle rear-ended a Waymo
- 2 collisions where a Waymo got sideswiped by another vehicle
- 2 collisions where a Waymo got cut off and wasn’t able to brake quickly enough
- 2 low-speed collisions with stationary vehicles
- 7 low-speed collisions with inanimate objects like shopping carts and potholes
This data highlights the potential for the future of auto-driving cars.
One of the key challenges facing autopilot cars is the complexity of real-world driving scenarios. Human drivers rely on intuition, experience, and split-second decision-making to navigate unexpected situations. Programming these nuanced responses into an AI system has proven to be extremely difficult.
For example, a human driver might instinctively know to maintain speed when encountering pigeons on the road, understanding that they will likely fly away. However, programming a computer to speed up when detecting small objects on the road could lead to potentially fatal mistakes in other scenarios.
The integration of autonomous vehicles with human-driven cars presents another significant hurdle. The unpredictability of human behavior makes it challenging for self-driving systems to anticipate and respond to all possible situations.
This complexity is one reason why fully autonomous private vehicles mixing with human-driven cars may still be a decade or more away from widespread implementation.
Public acceptance of autonomous vehicles varies across different countries and economic backgrounds. Interestingly, studies have shown that people from high-income countries are more likely to express negative comments about automated driving, while those from developing countries tend to be more optimistic.
According to a survey conducted by Forbes Advisor in January 2024, 93% of Americans have concerns about self-driving cars. Only 7% of respondents expressed no reservations about the technology, indicating a significant lack of public trust.
This disparity in attitudes adds another layer of complexity to the global adoption of self-driving technology.
The path to fully autonomous vehicles is likely to be gradual. Experts predict that we may see automated public transport in controlled environments, such as airport shuttles or buses with dedicated lanes, within the next five years.
However, the widespread adoption of fully autonomous private vehicles navigating complex urban environments alongside human drivers is likely much further away. While the potential benefits of autonomous vehicles could be significant, the technology does not seem ready for unrestricted real-world use.
With all the uncertainty, experts like McKinsey & Co, expect slow adoption of the technology by consumers. They estimate just 12% of new passenger vehicles will include auto-drive by 2030. With 30% of survey respondents stating they saw no exciting reason to use an autonomous car, it looks like the experts might be right.
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