©Reuters. The Tesla logo is seen on the steering wheel of an electric car at a dealership in Durango, northern Spain, on October 30, 2023.Reuters/Vincent West
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Written by Joseph White
DETROIT (Reuters) – Tesla's (NASDAQ:) Autopilot and fully self-driving technology, along with nine other driver-assistance systems sold by the major automaker, have been tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in a new study released on Tuesday. It received a “poor” rating.
The insurance industry's safety research arm, the IIHS, also said there is no evidence that Autopilot or other driver assistance systems offer real-world safety benefits, based on crash data.
“We can look at claims data, look at vehicles that have these (systems) and vehicles that don't have them, and see what the results of these more advanced systems are,” IIHS President David Harkey told Reuters. “We were able to determine that insurance claims would not be reduced.” .
By comparison, he said there is evidence that automatic emergency braking systems reduce rear-end collisions by 50% and vehicle collisions with pedestrians by 30%.
Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk say Teslas that drive with Autopilot activated are about 10 times safer than the U.S. average and five times safer than Teslas that don't have the technology enabled. said.
Federal regulators are investigating about 1,000 accidents in which Tesla's Autopilot was used. A civil lawsuit scheduled to be heard next week in California will hold drivers responsible for crashes for failing to heed EV manufacturers' warnings to pay attention to the road when Autopilot or fully self-driving technology is engaged. This is the latest test of Tesla's strategy.
Tesla did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The IIHS study evaluated 14 driver assistance systems from nine automakers against standards developed by the IIHS. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has no formal standards governing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS in industry parlance).
“There's no federal regulation, no consistent good guidance,” Harkey said. “That's why we put these safety measures in place.”
Only one of the systems IIHS tested received an acceptable rating. That's the Lexus Teammate with Advanced Drive, which was offered on a handful of systems last year. Toyota Motor (NYSE:)'s luxury Lexus LS hybrid sedan.
Toyota said in a statement: “Toyota continually strives to improve the safety of its vehicles.” “As part of that effort, Toyota considers performance in third-party test programs such as the NHTSA's New Vehicle Assessment Program and the IIHS' Top Safety Pick Program, among other things.”
GM's Super Cruise and Nissan's (OTC:) 2023-2024 Ariya electric vehicle ProPILOT Assist with NaviLink received an overall rating of “Marginal.”
“We are evaluating the results of the first-ever partially automated safeguard test and will continue to work with IIHS on all issues related to customer safety,” Nissan said in a statement.
GM said in a statement that Super Cruise is not a safety feature but “intended to enhance the driving experience.”
Various driver assistance systems from Tesla, Mercedes-Benz (OTC:), BMW (ETR:), Nissan, Ford (NYSE:), GM, Hyundai (OTC:)'s Genesis brand, and Geely's Volvo (OTC:) Cars brand. The group said all received “good” scores on certain elements of the IIHS test, but their overall ratings were “poor.”
“This new IIHS test method does not evaluate the performance of driver assistance systems, but focuses on safety measures to prevent abuse,” Mercedes said in a statement. “We take the results of the IIHS Partial Driving Automation Safeguards Assessment very seriously.”
Harkey said automakers can improve their safety ratings by adapting existing technology for features such as driver monitoring and attention warnings that have achieved “good” scores.
Tesla and other automakers are improving the capabilities of their systems, IIHS said. Tesla is revising its Autopilot software in response to the federal recall agreement, and the IIHS will test the updated system, Harkey said.
“As our cars and systems continue to evolve, we will certainly incorporate the results of these tests,” BMW spokesman Jay Hanson said Monday. BMW currently offers more advanced driver-assistance systems in certain U.S. models than those tested by IIHS.
The Genesis GV80 SUV, which goes on sale in the U.S. this spring, will be the first Hyundai luxury brand model to be equipped with an interior camera that monitors the driver's face and eyes when driver assistance is activated. “This enhancement will be rolled out to future Genesis products in the coming months and years,” the company said.
