Consumer reports came out with a new report on concerns about Tesla’s use of its driver-facing camera, and they raised an interesting question: if Tesla can determine that drivers are not paying attention, it should not warn drivers at that time, as most drivers monitoring systems?
Tesla has had a driver-oriented camera in most of its vehicles for years, but the company was not using it. Instead, the automaker’s only driver monitoring system for autopilot is a torque sensor on the steering wheel.
Tesla has often been criticized for not using more advanced means to monitor the driver’s attention and control. Consumer reports was one of those critics, and now they are back following new information.
Last week, we reported on Tesla confirming that it is now using the driver-facing camera in the Beta Full Self-Driving program to monitor attention.
CEO Elon Musk also said the automaker removed some Tesla owners from the program after determining that they were not paying enough attention when using the system.
Now Jake Fisher, senior director at Consumer reports‘car test center, argues that if Tesla now has the ability to monitor attention, they should implement a system to warn drivers whenever they are not paying attention:
If Tesla has the ability to determine if the driver is not paying attention, it needs to warn the driver at the moment, as other automakers already do.
In the report, they refer to other automakers that do just that, such as GM with the Supercruise.
However, the publication also argues that there are some privacy concerns, as Tesla collects videos from the cabin’s camera.
Electrek’s Take
Normally, I don’t agree with most of the CRcomplaints about autopilot, like when they complain about the name, but I will give credit where credit is due and it is a good question that they are raising.
Literally, anything is better than Tesla’s current driver monitoring system with a torque sensor on the steering wheel.
I believe that Tesla’s autopilot makes driving safer, but only if the driver always pays attention. The system relieves some of the driving tasks, allowing you to use more brain power to pay attention to the road.
If people misuse the system, Tesla should be able to warn them immediately. Now that we know they are able to detect this, why shouldn’t they?
What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.
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