The Loss of a Full-Self-Driving Model of Autopilot Involving a San Francisco Bay Area Collision

A driver told authorities that their Tesla’s “full-self-driving” software braked unexpectedly and triggered an eight-car pileup in the San Francisco Bay Area last month that led to nine people being treated for minor injuries including one juvenile who was hospitalized, according to a California Highway Patrol traffic crash report.

The crash occurred about lunchtime on Thanksgiving, snarling traffic on Interstate 80 east of the Bay Bridge as two lanes of traffic were closed for about 90 minutes as many people traveled to holiday events. Four ambulances were called to the scene.

Hundreds of complaints have been received by the agency. Some people have expressed their concern for their safety. NHTSA upgraded the investigation to a engineering analysis, which is an indication that it is considering a recall.

Tesla confirmed in a public filing released Monday that the US Department of Justice has requested documents concerning the company’s controversial driver-assist software systems which Tesla calls Autopilot and “Full Self-Driving.”

Autopilot is a suite of driver-assist features that’s best known for its automated steering that may keep a car within a lane on roads. Some drivers say that it decreases their fatigue on long road trips. “Full Self-Driving” steers the vehicle on city streets, but also may stop for traffic signals and make turns to reach a destination. Drivers have been impressed with its abilities but alarmed by its flaws.

The topic of autopilot has been controversial for a long time. The National Transportation Safety Board previously found that the technology was partially to blame in a fatal crash.

The data used byTesla to support its safety claims is not the best measure of the system’s safety, even though the company says its autopilot is safer than ordinary driving.

Despite its wide popularity, the “full self-driving” system is still in a test phase and will someday be used on city streets. No car for sale is yet able to drive itself.

Waymo, the self-driving subsidiary of Google’s parent company, stopped using the term “self-driving” in January 2021 because it said the phrase was being used inaccurately, giving the public a false impression of what driver-assist systems are capable of.