The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has called for stronger regulations about the design and use of automated driving systems on public roads.
In a letter sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), NTSB chief Robert Sumwalt made frequent mentions of Tesla and the semi-autonomous driving system that it has developed, CNBC reports.
“Tesla recently released a beta version of its Level 2 Autopilot system, described as having full self-driving capability,” he wrote. “By releasing the system, Tesla is testing on public roads a highly automated AV technology but with limited oversight or reporting requirements. NHTSA’s hands-off approach to oversight of AV testing poses a potential risk to motorists and other road users.”
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Sumwalt has called on the NHTSA to require car manufacturers to include collision avoidance systems in all of their vehicles, to provide driver monitoring systems, and to add safeguards that ensure drivers can’t use automated driving systems beyond the conditions where it is safe to do so. The NTSB also called on the NHTSA to make safety reporting more specific and mandatory for all companies developing and testing self-driving systems.
The NTSB also wants the NHTSA to look at Tesla’s Autopilot system “to determine if the system’s operating limitations, the foreseeability of driver misuse, and the ability to operate the vehicles outside the intended ODD [operational design domain] pose an unreasonable risk to safety. To date, NHTSA has shown no indication that it is prepared to respond effectively and in a timely manner to potential AV safety-related defects.”
