Tesla defended the safety benefits of its Autopilot driver assistance system and its Full Self-Steering (FSD) capability, but acknowledged that they require “constant monitoring and driver attention”.
Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and Ed Markey wrote to Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk on Feb. of safety regulators.
In a previously undisclosed March 4 letter to senators, Tesla’s senior director of public policy and business development, Rohan Patel, said the features enhance its customers’ ability “to drive more safely than the average driver in the United States.” U.S”.
Patel noted that both systems “require constant monitoring and attention from the driver”. Tesla vehicles are capable of performing “some, but not all of the Dynamic Driving Tasks” that can be performed by human drivers, he added.
Tesla says on its website that Autopilot allows vehicles to steer, accelerate and brake automatically and “requires active supervision from the driver and does not make the vehicle autonomous”.
Blumenthal and Markey said in a statement to Reuters that the letter was “just more evasion and diversion from Tesla. Despite its troubling record of safety and fatal accidents, the company apparently wants to continue business as usual.”
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
Patel said in the letter that Tesla “understands the importance of educating owners about Autopilot features and FSD capability.”
Autopilot allows drivers to keep their hands off the wheel at times, but Patel said its torque-based hand-on-wheel detection helps ensure drivers remain alert.
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