The long road towards autonomous vehicles just hit another speed bump.
Despite lofty performance promises from carmakers seeking an autonomous future, recent testing from AAA revealed “inconsistent performance” with more basic active driving assistance (ADA) that resulted in vehicles crashing repeatedly into cars and a bicycles.
Head-on collisions occurred during each and every one of AAA’s 15 tests featuring oncoming vehicles in a traffic lane, sending test dummies hurling through the air and foam test cars crumbling. Only one vehicle, a Tesla, Model 3, actually managed to significantly reduce its speed before eventually crashing into an oncoming vehicle traveling within its lane, Reuters notes. The test vehicles slammed into a cyclist crossing a travel line in a third of the tests.
Reflecting on the results, AAA said the collisions point to the need for constant human attention while drivers have their systems engaged, something evangelists like Tesla CEO Elon Musk have injected with confusion.