Tesla’s Robotaxi program, one of the company’s most ambitious initiatives in autonomous mobility, is facing increasing safety concerns following three recent crashes in Austin, Texas. Such current accidents make the seven reported crashes of Robotaxi a disturbing statistic, given the comparatively small number of miles the fleet has covered and the fact that in-car supervisors were present to take corrective actions whenever required.
The Robotaxi service, introduced earlier this year in Austin, marks a significant step in Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) ambitions. Tesla moved the supervisor to the front passenger seat, unlike before, when they were supervising autonomous tests where the safety driver was at the wheel. This action provoked the tightening of federal reporting policies, forcing Tesla to provide specific information about crashes to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
In July, which was the first complete month of the program, three crashes were reported by Tesla. Another came soon afterwards in association with the company, saying that its Robotaxi cars had traveled 250,000 miles during the period between late June and early November.
That mileage metric enabled the analysts to determine an approximate early crash rate at Tesla Company, which showed that Tesla Robotaxis were having about two crashes per mile, which is two times the number of crashes per mile in competing service Waymo. Three more September crashes have now emerged, which raises the issue of the rate at which the Tesla autonomous fleet is facing reality.
Details on the New Incidents: What’s Known
The reporting process of Tesla, however, made it hard to comprehend regulators, researchers, and the general public because they need to know what actually happened during each crash. Although companies are expected to disclose the details of the event using the crash-reporting system offered by NHTSA, Tesla often pacifies the entire narrative section, effectively concealing the circumstances under which an incident has occurred.
Still, based on the limited information provided:
One of the accidents was when a Robotaxi hit a reversing car. It is not completely clear whether it was the perception system of Robotaxi or it was the backing vehicle. A second accident was that of a cyclist. Cases that involve vulnerable road users are even more sensitive and raise questions about how well the system of Tesla monitors and reacts to fast-moving or unpredictable objects. The third accident was of an unknown animal.
Human drivers are not new to animal-related collisions, but autonomous systems will be expected to be more responsive and detect more obstacles.
The absence of a narrative detail on Tesla leaves unsolved such important questions as whether the supervisor intervened, whether the system came up with a warning, or what the speed of the vehicle was.
Transparency Problems Add to Safety Concerns
In contrast to its rivals (Waymo and Cruise), Tesla regularly leaves out the crash description, where NHTSA permits companies to redact it when necessary. According to the activists of safety, the practice of Tesla erodes the trust of the population and makes it impossible to conduct a critical assessment of the work of the autonomous system.
The redactions have caused suspicion since Tesla has been arguing over the years that its cars will cause fewer accidents than human drivers. According to critics, the company seems to be exploiting regulatory loopholes to not disclose the weaknesses or failure points of its autonomous technology.
