Washington (AFP) - It could be a wakeup call for the self-driving car movement. The Tesla Model S cruising on "Autopilot" failed to pick up a crossing tractor-trailer against a bright sky, sending the driver to his death without any effort to hit the brakes.
The first known fatality from autonomous driving technology, it was a nightmare scenario for an industry promoting a way to improve road safety and reduce traffic fatalities that come mostly from human error. Researchers say the tragedy does not change the long-term outlook for autonomous vehicles or their potential benefits, but could dampen enthusiasm for this technology.
"Clearly this is a horrible thing, but in the big picture it doesn't affect the technology," said Richard Wallace, head of transportation systems analysis at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
More than 30,000 Americans die annually in traffic incidents caused by human error, according to government data. Mary Cummings, who heads the Humans and Autonomy Laboratory at Duke University, said the Tesla crash shows the industry is moving too fast to deploy self-driving vehicles.
"My concern is that this was an avoidable accident," Cummings told AFP. "My concern is that this will set the industry back."
Cummings, who warned against premature deployment of the technology at a Senate hearing earlier this year, said she believes self-driving cars will be beneficial in the long term but that they should not be on the road before they are ready. Cummings said Tesla was aware of the "blind spot" in Autopilot and should have known that drivers will often ignore warnings about remaining vigilant when using the semi-autonomous system.
