Tesla Can Learn From Competitors To Keep Drivers Alert, Consumer Reports Finds

As self-driving technology evolves, growing evidence suggests that some of it should focus on keeping drivers awake, alert and ready to take control instead of encouraging them to trust the autonomous software completely.

Tesla

TSLA
is the subject of at least 23 active safety investigations, many involving crashes in which some of its vehicles may have collided when its Autopilot feature was activated.

A new study from Consumer Reports looks at how automakers use cameras that monitor a driver’s attention and drowsiness, and how to balance privacy concerns with the potentially life-saving impact of those cameras to help re-engage a driver before accidents occur.

Tesla has repeatedly cited its owners manuals which state that a driver should always be awake and prepared to take hold of the steering wheel whenever the Autopilot system is activated.

Some of Tesla vehicles do have interior-mounted cameras that record the actions of drivers and passengers. After a crash occurs, the company studies the footage to find ways to improve the system. But some of its competitors don’t use such cameras to study drivers’ behavior after the crash, but to alert them in real time so they can avoid the collision.

Yes, videos of driver and passenger behavior raise privacy concerns. Most trips are completed safely. Enabling automakers or any other data gathering companies to collect images whenever they want should raise concerns.

But so should accidents such as two in Michigan earlier this month.

In a March 11 accident a man driving a Tesla and his female passenger ran into a tractor trailer, went under the truck and stopped a close distance on the other side of the larger vehicle, leaving a passenger critically injured.

While Detroit Police officers responding to the accident said they could not determine whether the AutoPilot system was activated, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent a team to investigate the crash.

Then early on the morning of March 17 a Tesla suspected of being in Autopilot mode struck a parked Michigan State Police car on I-96 near Lansing. No one was injured and the 22-year-old driver was not cited for any violation.

“If Tesla has the ability to determine if the driver isn’t paying attention, it needs to warn the driver in the moment, like other automakers already do,” said Jake Fisher, senior director of Consumer Reports’ auto test center.

For example, BMW’s driver assistance professional package uses an infrared sensor embedded in the instrument panel to detect how alert or tired a driver is. It tracks head position, blinking eyelid rates and whether one’s eyes are open.

It does not record or transmit any of that data, but it will send an audio or haptic signal to the driver. The feature is available on the 2021 3 Series, 4 Series, 5 Series, 7 Series, 8 Series, X5, X6 and X7 models.

Ford offers a similar option on its F-150 pickup truck and Mustang Mach-E. This active driver assist feature also uses a driver-facing infrared camera that monitors the driver’s eye and head gaze, a Ford spokesperson told Consumer Reports.

If the driver is disengaged or drowsy, the system will slow the vehicle if the driver fails to respond to visual and audio signals. As with the BMW system, Ford does not record this video. The data the camera collects stays in the camera.

General Motors’ Super Cruise driver assist feature uses an infrared camera to track a driver’s eye and head position.

If any impairment is detected, Super Cruise triggers an escalating series of warning for the driver to pay attention. The camera does not capture or store images or data or share any information with GM

GM
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This latest version of Super Cruise is available on the 2021 Cadillac CT4, CT5 and Escalade and will be an option on the upcoming 2022 GMC Hummer EV.

Subaru has something called a DriverFocus Distraction Mitigation System that uses what a company spokesperson called a “near infrared reader” to gauge the driver’s eye and facial movements to detect drowsiness and declining attention. It will activate a warning if either condition is detected.

2021 models of the Forester, Legacy and Outback offer this feature, which does not store images.  

Tesla currently mounts a driver-facing camera above the rearview mirror on the Model 3 and Model Y models. But driver’s can turn it off. Tesla told Consumer Reports that if a driver activates it, the camera will capture and share a video of the moments before a crash or before the automatic emergency braking system is activated.

According the company’s website, these videos can help Tesla “develop future safety features and software enhancements. Tesla did not respond to Consumer Reports request for additional information about the system.

Citing software release notes and other statements from the company’s website, Consumer Reports added that Tesla uses steering wheel feedback and touch sensors to tell if a driver is disengaged. The system can disable certain features if the driver keeps his hands off the wheel too long.