Tesla to Add New Safety Features to Autopilot

Tesla will rollout a new safety feature for its Autopilot autonomous driving system that it hopes will help stop drivers from ignoring alerts. 

According to Electrek, Tesla will add a feature that makes some parts of Autopilot unaccessible to those that repeatedly ignore alerts. The system will shut down after alerts are ignored until the next time the car is stopped and put into park. The report says that only Autosteer will be locked out while Tesla’s Traffic Aware Cruise Control will remain accessible.

Currently, Autopilot will periodically tell the driver to place their hands back on the wheel while Autosteer is engaged using visual and audible reminders. If the driver fails to touch the steering wheel for 15 seconds after the warnings begin, Autosteer will go through a shut down procedure which will slowly mute any music that is playing and begin to slow the vehicle down.

In the case of a Model X crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Tesla claims that the shut down procedure had activated 11 seconds before the accident occurred, suggesting that the driver still ignored the alerts and prompts to put their hands back on the wheel.

SEE ALSO: Tesla Hikes Price for Autopilot

The v8.0 update for Tesla vehicles is said to contain updates that will make the Autopilot system better on the whole, including the addition of a new off-ramp feature that allows the vehicle to exit the highway and navigate an off-ramp by itself.

[Source: Electrek]

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