German Transport Ministry calls Tesla’s Autopilot A ‘Traffic Hazard’

The Auto-pilot function on Tesla Motors‘s Model S with a substantial “Traffic Hazard”, as per with an internal report for Germany’s Transport Ministry viewed by magazine Der Spiegel.

Professionals in the Federal Highway Research Institute brought out tests on the electrical vehicle and criticized it on numerous points, the magazine reported.

It notes examples like, drivers are not signaled by the Autopilot system when the vehicle gets into a situation that the computer can not fix, Spiegel cited the report as stating.

Furthermore, the car’s sensing units do not identify far back enough throughout an overtaking movement, while the emergency brake also performs improperly, as per the report.

Spiegel noted Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt understood the report but did not wish to take the model out of service.

The ministry told Reuters a last assessment had actually not yet been taken and additional tests were being performed.

Tesla stated in a declaration: “We have always been clear with our customers that Autopilot is a drivers assistance system that needs the driver to pay attention at all times.”

It said the system also consisted of safeguards against driver abuse and that it was not familiar with any safeguards as strong in any other automobile on the roadway. Tesla added its emergency braking system was likewise “state of the art” in the market.

Tesla’s Autopilot, introduced in October 2015, has been the focus of extreme scrutiny following news in July that a Model S driver was killed while using autopilot in a May 7 crash with a truck in Florida.