Autosteering into danger: Tesla must put the brakes on vehicle autonomy

LUcy LopHSIRE

According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the tourism industry brings around $2 billion into Hawaii each year. The industry itself is massive, and the appeal of the islands continues to fuel the growth of tourism throughout Hawaii.

While many reap the benefits of the millions of tourists, there is often a forgotten element of the islands, the locals. According to a study from the University of Hawaii, tourists outnumber residents 6 to 1, and they also outnumber native residents 30 to 1.

Diana Pao, a resident of Hawaii for 44 years, lives with her husband Leroy on Oahu. The two have noticed subtle changes over their several decades of residency, including an increase in business.

“The changes were subtle. The surf crowd would converge on the North Shore for the winter, and by March, they would all leave, and life would be quiet again. But then the North Shore became a summer destination, and today it’s busy all year round,” Pao said.

The increase in tourists has reached up to five million annually, written in several reports completed by the University of Hawaii. This noticeable increase has caused several issues within the islands, affecting the local communities.

“Before, people would stay in Waikiki and make the North Shore a day trip, but now the tourists want to stay out here, and the AirBNBs and VRBO are illegally flourishing. This has a big effect on our small area that is overrun with traffic, food trucks, and the overuse of many of our beaches,” Pao said.

Along with traffic and overuse, Pao mentioned that tourists tend to interfere with marine life as well, saying that touching turtles was something tourists should stray from at all times. The World Register of Marine Species supports the idea, pointing out that tourism can disturb marine life with boats, disrupting of food chains, and can even contribute to overfishing.

Another issue that stems from the number of tourists is the increase in housing prices across the islands. Locals struggle with the housing market inflation as tourists continue to buy vacation homes and prices continue to rise.

“Multigenerational homes are becoming more the way of life for local people. I can’t see our kids ever having the opportunity to buy a home on the North Shore,” Pao said.

Pao’s mention of her kids having a lack of opportunities to buy homes reflects the several issues that tourists have created by using Hawaii as another vacation destination.

Although there seems to be more cost than benefit, it is important to recognize that the tourism industry provides jobs for residents and brings in massive annual income for the state. Pao mentioned that residents enjoy sharing their homes with tourists as long as they are respectful, emphasizing that the most important takeaway is to avoid encroaching on local lands.

“In my opinion, there should be a cap on the number of people flocking to our islands on a daily basis. Our infrastructure just isn’t growing with our own population, let alone the thousands of people who come here every day,” Pao said.

Paospeaks for a large portion of Hawaiian residents, who appreciate the revenue and want to find a compromise. The thing she asks of tourists is “to be respectful of our lands. Most are, but common sense is lacking in many. You can’t make a U-turn because you missed your destination. You can’t park on the bike path because you didn’t know. You can’t touch our marine life. You can’t hike our mountains and get lost or injured and expect the state to pick up the tab. Do your homework before going anywhere on vacation.”

pHoto by AmbER cHIA

Tesla’s mission is to “accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy;” that is, if they don’t unexpectedly lose speed and get rear-ended on the way there.

When people think of future technology, one of the first images to come to mind is often a self-driving car. This is why Teslas seem so appealing; they are the closest to becoming autonomous vehicles. They also have a history of high safety ratings, including five-star ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Although these cars may be designed to be the “safest cars in the world,” their path to autonomy involves features that do more harm than good.

When Teslas were first introduced to the market, one of the features that made them stand out was Autopilot, which founder Elon Musk claimed would steer the auto industry toward an “autonomous utopia.” But in actuality, a Tesla in Autopilot mode is not autonomous and requires “active driver supervision,” according to the company.

Nevertheless, consumers believed that an Autopiloted Tesla was the same thing as a self-driving car. Among them was Joshua Brown, who was watching a DVD when his Model S collided with a semitruck, according to Reuters. Brown died as a result of the crash.

Following Brown’s death in 2016, Musk claimed that installing Autopilot in every car would save thousands of lives. This was supported by an NHTSA report from the following year which stated that installing Autosteer, an Autopilot component, decreased accidents (measured by airbag deployment) by about 40%. However, further analysis conducted in 2019 by Randy Whitfield revealed that this statistic was based on incomplete data; Autosteer actually increased airbag deployment by nearly 59%. Furthermore, Whitfield found that installing Autosteer was not associated with a decreased risk of airbag deployment, but an increased risk by a factor of more than 2.4.

Instances like Brown’s fatal accident have troubling implications for not just the future of autonomous driving, but also the future of driving as a whole. In the Bay Area, it is becoming more common to see Teslas with student driver bumper stickers on them. Why are children being trusted with vehicles that can barely be controlled by adults? If these new drivers mistakenly believe that Autopilot is a substitute for manual driving, it could not only cause an increase in accidents caused by Autopilot, but also a decrease in manual driving skills, which still matter; Teslas can’t drive themselves. But even if new drivers understand Autopilot’s limits, their reliance on its components could prove dangerous, especially when it comes to automatic emergency braking (AEB).

AEB is a big step towards vehicle autonomy, but it stops short. In October 2021, Tesla recalled 11,728 vehicles due to a flood of complaints that cars on Autopilot were unexpectedly activating AEB at highway speeds, a phenomenon known to Tesla owners as “phantom braking.” Complainants alleged that their vehicles had decelerated anywhere between 11 and 55 miles per hour in less than a second, nearly resulting in a loss of control. In February 2022, the NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) launched an investigation into 354 complaints about unexpected AEB received over nine months. The investigation only affects Model 3 and Y Vehicles made between 2021 and 2022, but complaints concerning the 2021 Model S have indicated phantom braking as well.

One may point out that Autopilot and its components don’t fit Tesla’s mission statement at all; why include them? According to the Daily Beast, Tesla sees it as a way to speed ahead of the competition. Google announced their dabble into autonomous driving right when Tesla was gaining traction, and Musk likely thought his cars needed another feature to stand out. Autopilot isn’t a safety feature, but a marketing ploy. Nevertheless, it still fails; in 2019, Consumer Reports denounced the Navigate on Autopilot feature, which includes the ability to automatically change lanes, as “far less competent than a human driver.”

Given Autopilot’s link to open investigations, countless complaints, and even several deaths, now is not the time for Tesla to think about making vehicles autonomous. The only way forward is for Musk to grab the steering wheel from his dreams of a self-driving car and park the idea until it is proven that vehicle autonomy can make roads safer. Otherwise, the brakes on the project will apply themselves.

TEsla by the Numbers

769

Complaints filed with the NHTSA for 2021 Tesla Model S, X, Y, and 3 cars

526

Complaints for all 2021 Tesla models that address forward collision avoidance software

510

Complaints for all 2021 Tesla models that use the term “phantom braking” or describe unexpected AEB

14

Total recalls issued for all 2021 Tesla models

3

Open NHTSA investigations for all 2021 Tesla Models

All data is sourced from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)