Three crashes involving Teslas that killed three people have increased scrutiny of the company’s Autopilot driving system, just months before CEO Elon Musk has planned to put fully self-driving cars on the streets.
On Sunday, a Tesla Model S sedan left a freeway in Gardena, Calif., at high speed, ran a red light and struck a Honda Civic, killing two people inside, police said.
On the same day, a Tesla Model 3 hit a parked firetruck on an Indiana freeway, killing a passenger in the Tesla.
Back on Dec. 7, a Model 3 struck a police cruiser on a Connecticut highway, though no one was hurt.
The special crash investigation unit of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is looking into the California crash. The agency hasn’t decided whether its special-crash unit will review the crash that occurred Sunday near Terre Haute, Ind. In both cases, authorities have yet to determine whether Tesla’s Autopilot system was being used.
Autopilot is designed to keep a car in its lane and a safe distance from other vehicles. Autopilot also can change lanes on its own.
NHTSA is also investigating the Connecticut crash, in which the driver told police that the car was operating on Autopilot.
Tesla has said repeatedly that its Autopilot system is designed only to assist drivers, who must still pay attention and be ready to intervene at all times. The company contends that Teslas with Autopilot are safer than vehicles without it, but cautions that the system does not prevent all crashes.
13 Tesla crashes
Even so, experts and safety advocates say a string of Tesla crashes raises serious questions about whether drivers have become too reliant on Tesla’s technology, and whether the company does enough to ensure that drivers keep paying attention. Some critics have said it’s past time for NHTSA to stop investigating and to take action, such as forcing Tesla to make sure drivers pay attention when the system is being used.
NHTSA has started investigations into 13 Tesla crashes, dating to at least 2016, in which the agency believes Autopilot was operating. The agency has yet to issue any regulations, though it is studying how it should evaluate similar “advanced driver assist” systems.
“At some point, the question becomes, how much evidence is needed to determine that the way this technology is being used is unsafe?” said Jason Levine, executive director of the non-profit Centre for Auto Safety in Washington. “In this instance, hopefully these tragedies will not be in vain and will lead to something more than an investigation by NHTSA.”
Levine and others have called on the agency to require Tesla to limit the use of Autopilot to mainly four-lane divided highways without cross traffic. They also want Tesla to install a better system to monitor drivers to make sure they’re paying attention all the time. Tesla’s system requires drivers to place their hands on the steering wheel. But federal investigators have found that this system lets drivers zone out for too long.
A Tesla sedan using Autopilot struck a parked Laguna Beach Police Department vehicle in Laguna Beach, Calif., in May 2018. (Laguna Beach Police Department/Reuters)
Tesla plans to use the same cameras and radar sensors, though with a more powerful computer, in its fully self-driving vehicles. Critics question whether those cars will be able to drive themselves safely without putting other motorists in danger.
Doubts about Tesla’s Autopilot system have long persisted. In September, the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates transportation accidents, issued a report saying that a design flaw in Autopilot and driver inattention combined to cause a Tesla Model S to slam into a firetruck parked along a Los Angeles-area freeway in January 2018.
The board determined that the driver was overly reliant on the system and that Autopilot’s design let him disengage from driving for too long.
In addition to the deaths on Sunday night, three U.S. fatal crashes since 2016 — two in Florida and one in Silicon Valley — involved vehicles using Autopilot.
David Friedman, vice-president of advocacy for Consumer Reports and a former acting NHTSA administrator, said the agency should have declared Autopilot defective and sought a recall after a 2016 crash in Florida that killed a driver. Neither Tesla’s system nor the driver had braked before the car went underneath a semi-trailer that had turned in front of the car.
“We don’t need any more people getting hurt for us to know that there is a problem and that Tesla and NHTSA have failed to address it,” Friedman said.
In addition to NHTSA, states can regulate autonomous vehicles, though many have decided they want to encourage testing.
In the 2016 crash, NHTSA closed its investigation without seeking a recall. Friedman, who was not at NHTSA at the time, said the agency determined that the problem didn’t happen frequently. But he said that argument has since been debunked.
Autopilot system ‘defective’
Friedman said it’s foreseeable some drivers will not pay attention to the road while using Autopilot, so the system is “defective.”
“The public is owed some explanation for the lack of action,” he said. “Simply saying they’re continuing to investigate — that line has worn out its usefulness and its credibility.”
In a statement, NHTSA said it relies on data to make decisions, and if it finds any vehicle poses an unreasonable safety risk, “the agency will not hesitate to take action.” NHTSA also has said it doesn’t want to stand in the way of technology, given its life-saving potential.
Messages were left Thursday seeking comment from Tesla.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has planned to put fully self-driving cars on the streets later this year, but recent deadly crashes involving Tesla’s Autopilot system could complicate this. (Philip Pacheco/AFP/Getty Images)
Raj Rajkumar, an electrical and computer engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University, said it’s likely that the Tesla in Sunday’s California crash was operating on Autopilot, which has become confused in the past by lane lines. He speculated that the lane line was more visible for the exit ramp, so the car took the ramp because it looked like a freeway lane. He also suggested that the driver might not have been paying close attention.
“No normal human being would not slow down in an exit lane,” he said.
In April, Musk said he expected to start converting the company’s electric cars to fully self-driving vehicles in 2020 to create a network of robotic taxis to compete against Uber and other ride-hailing services.
At the time, experts said the technology wasn’t ready and that Tesla’s camera and radar sensors weren’t good enough for a self-driving system. Rajkumar and others say additional crashes have proved that to be true.
Many experts say they’re not aware of fatal crashes involving similar driver-assist systems from General Motors, Mercedes and other automakers. GM monitors drivers with cameras and will shut down the driving system if they don’t watch the road.
“Tesla is nowhere close to that standard,” he said.
He predicted more deaths involving Teslas if NHTSA fails to take action.
“This is very unfortunate,” he said. “Just tragic.”
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
