Three U.S. senators are introducing legislation that aims to make sure that no vehicle with advanced driver aids can operate without a driver.
By mandating driver-monitoring systems, the bill aims to stop accidents such as the one earlier this month in which a Tesla crashed, killing its two occupants, neither of whom were in the driver’s seat. The senators, all Democrats, say they hope to get the measure included as part of infrastructure reform legislation, per Reuters.
In a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) last week, two of the senators proposing this bill said that Tesla has “been criticized for misrepresenting the capabilities of their vehicles’ automated driving and driver assistance systems, giving drivers a false sense of security.”
The NHTSA has investigated 28 crashes in which Tesla’s Autopilot is suspected of having been in use. Recently, Consumer Reports found that it could make Tesla Autopilot operate with no one in the driver’s seat.
Read More: No One Was Driving The Tesla Model S In Fiery Crash Where Two People Were Killed
Although Autopilot is not intended to operate without a driver, the system’s name and the way it has been represented in public, as well as the name of the upcoming so-called “Full Self Driving” mode have all led to several instances of drivers taking leave of their responsibilities.
While many advanced driver assistance systems require the driver to touch the wheel, Consumer Reports has found that these do not require the driver to pay attention to the road. Systems like Super Cruise, which have a driver-facing camera ensure that the driver is always paying attention to the road.
The legislation, being introduced by Senators Richard Blumenthal, Amy Klobuchar, and Ed Markey will require the NHTSA to “study how driver monitoring systems can prevent driver distraction, driver disengagement, automation complacency, and the foreseeable misuse of advanced driver-assist systems.”
