Tesla Autopilot does not see motorcyclists – third fatal accident in a short time

In the past few months, there have been three fatal collisions in the United States, in which a Tesla on autopilot hit a motorcyclist from behind. The conditions are the same in all three cases: it was dark and the motorcyclist was driving in the same lane as the car.

We repeat the well-known trick again: Autopilot does NOT turn a Tesla into a self-driving car. The name is misleading and Tesla boss Elon Musk does not improve public perception with occasional exaggerated statements.

Tesla Autopilot is a semi-autonomous driving assistant

Tesla Autopilot is a collection of semi-autonomous driving assistants. One that can partially drive itself in certain situations and circumstances. Supervision by a human driver is always required as the autopilot makes mistakes and cannot intervene when something unexpected happens.

But apparently there are still drivers who rely too much on autopilot. In the USA alone, 273 accidents in ten months (from July 2021 to May 2022) can be traced back to Tesla driving assistants, according to data from the NHTSA, the American RDW.

The American Motorcyclists Union is furious

Safety organizations fear that there have now been a number of serious motorcycle accidents in quick succession, in which autopilot plays a role. American Motorcyclist Association’s Rob Dingman is furious. He told CNN, “Drivers aren’t paying attention, they hit a motorcyclist and they keep saying, ‘Sorry, I didn’t see you.’ And now it’s suddenly: ‘Sorry, you didn’t see my car.’ This is unacceptable.”

In Europe, safety systems in cars are tested for motorcycle recognition. That doesn’t happen in the US. Dingman is therefore not only angry with Tesla, but also with the NHTSA, to which his advocacy group has already sent several fire letters.

Possible explanation for the Tesla autopilot accidents

Recent Autopilot crashes all follow the same pattern. A Tesla is driving on autopilot in the dark, apparently not noticing the motorcyclist in the same lane and driving straight into it without braking.

The FortNine Youtube channel has a possible explanation. Tesla Autopilot relies on cameras and radar to see objects and calculate the distance to those objects. But Tesla has said goodbye to radar. According to the manufacturer, autopilot can work well with cameras alone. And no more radar saves costs, of course…

The bikes we’ve hit recently are all big cruisers with two taillights close together. A Tesla that relies solely on cameras has a hard time making out a silhouette in the dark. It’s possible Autopilot’s artificial intelligence is using the taillights to get an idea of ​​distance, FortNine theorizes. Two lights next to each other could see the system as a car driving far away. A radar could solve that problem, but yeah… the latest Teslas don’t have it anymore.