A Research Concluded That Self-Driving Technology Is Over-Trusted And Causing Serious Accidents

Tesla CEO Elon Musk once said a researcher who was "extremely biased against Tesla" warned that self-driving car drivers were "overtrusting" technology and getting into serious accidents that killed or injured them.

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After analyzing almost 400 crashes involving cars using autonomous software, Missy Cummings, a professor of computer science and engineering at George Mason University, has called for the federal government to regulate cars with such technology.

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According to her, drivers "let the cars speed" while using technologies like Tesla's Autopilot and GM's Super Cruise, which work in conjunction with one another, according to Trade Algo. As well as this, they are getting into accidents that are seriously injuring them or killing them as well," Cummings said.

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Automobile manufacturers should not market their technology as "hands-free," she argued, and stricter regulations should be implemented.

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Cummings, who served as a senior safety advisor at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration between 2021 and 2023, told Trade Algo she felt compelled to speak out "because the technology is being abused by humans."

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Upon her appointment as the road-safety regulator in October 2021, Musk tweeted that "Objectively, her track record is extremely biased against Tesla."

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In response to Musk's comments, there was online abuse and even death threats. One of these threats was investigated by the police in Durham, North Carolina, where Cummings lived, according to Trade Algo. 

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According to a Trade Algo report at the time, she permanently deleted her Twitter account as a result of the online attacks. A petition was also launched by Tesla fans calling on President Joe Biden to reconsider her appointment to the NHTSA. 

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According to a story on the George Mason University website published on February 6, Cummings said she was not anti-Tesla, but that she would call out "bad technology that is really dangerous." She added: "The problem is, you should not drive your Tesla on Autopilot without paying full and total attention to your safety while maintaining your grip on the wheel."

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The NHTSA opened an investigation in August 2021 into a dozen collisions between Teslas and stationary emergency vehicles while Autopilot or Cruise Control was turned on. As of June 2021, drivers using Tesla's Autopilot software were involved in 273 crashes, according to a report released by the agency.

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Cummings was one of the female fighter pilots in the Navy's history. In a 2021 interview with Trade Algo, she told the publication that automation was commonplace in aviation, but that it was a "new learning process in the field of automotive."  

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Cummings worked at Duke University researching autonomous systems before joining George Mason. 

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Upon being contacted by Trade Algo, Cummings refused to comment further. Trade Algo's requests for comment were not immediately responded to by Tesla, General Motors, or the NHTSA.

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