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Jennifer Homendy, president of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), has called Tesla’s attitude “irresponsible” by exaggerating the characteristics of the semi-autonomous driving system in their cars . Homendy refers to Full Self-Driving (FSD), the new driver assistance system that the brand has been developing and updating in its beta version in recent months and that represents a new step in the autonomy offered with its Autopilot . According to the brand, this system offers total autonomy, but in reality it is a level 2 system that still needs the presence of the driver to take control of the car when necessary.
According to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), there are several levels of autonomy in the industry. Level 0 is the first of them and does not imply any type of assistance in the vehicle, while level 5 refers to complete autonomy. Tesla cars, like many others on the market, are at level 2, a still very low level that is related to partial autonomy because it allows the system to take control of the vehicle for a short period of time and perform certain actions. related to acceleration and braking. However, as this period of time passes, the car will no longer have assistance, therefore, it needs the presence of the driver and his full attention to face any unforeseen event.
Jennifer Homendy’s statements, compiled by the Wall Street Journal and cited by Roadshow , argue that Tesla has been misleading its customers and the general public and that such deception has resulted in misuse of this type of technology , which can become very dangerous if its true characteristics are not known. Therefore, it suggests that the company improve the safety of its cars before continuing to develop new versions of its FSD, as it has been happening in recent weeks.
These statements coincide with those made by some United States senators about the company. For them, Tesla’s role in promoting this type of technology has also resulted in its misuse and, therefore, unfortunate events. For that reason, they also demanded that the company be investigated, despite the fact that already The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is doing its own inquiries around 11 Tesla car crashes with parked emergency vehicles .
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