Teslas can be ‘tricked’ to run without driver, report says after fatal crash
- Consumer Reports engineers placed a weight on the steering wheel, ‘easily’ fooling the car’s Autopilot system
- Two men died in Texas last week when a Model S caught fire after hitting a tree, apparently with no one behind the wheel
Consumer Reports engineers said they “easily tricked” a Tesla vehicle to drive via its Autopilot feature without anyone in the driver’s seat, just days after a fatal crash in Texas where police said they found no one behind the steering wheel of a Tesla car.
In a test conducted this week, test drivers took several trips on a closed half-mile (800-metre) track in a Tesla Model Y sport utility vehicle, the non-profit research organisation said in a statement on Thursday.
The vehicle – with Autopilot technology engaged – was able to steer itself along painted lines but at no time displayed a warning that the driver’s seat was empty.
The engineer who conducted the test placed a small weighted chain on the steering wheel to simulate the weight of a driver’s hand.
“In our evaluation, the system not only failed to make sure the driver was paying attention, but it also couldn’t tell if there was a driver there at all,” said Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’ senior director of vehicle testing.