Drowsy driving has always been one of the major problems in traffic. In fact, it’s much more likely to have an accident while driving tired than when driving drunk. And the statistics show worrying figures in this regard.
“An estimated that 1 in 25 adult drivers (aged 18 years or older) report having fallen asleep while driving in the previous 30 days,” reports CDC. And according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drowsy driving was responsible for 72,000 crashes, 44,000 injuries, and 800 deaths in 2013.
As the CDC explains, these numbers are underestimated, stating that “up to 6,000 fatal crashes each year may be caused by drowsy drivers.”
These figures show a worrying image of how much sleep deprivation may affect our road safety, and the same fact was considered by Tesla when developing their state-of-the-art cars.
With the Tesla autopilot, the chances that your drowsy driving may be a cause of a fatal crash are reduced greatly. While it is an ‘autopilot’ mode, it is in no way intended for a driver to let go of the wheel and sleep while driving.
And to make sure that this kind of behavior doesn’t cause major issues in road safety, the Tesla Autopilot mode has implemented a feature in which when lack of control is detected, the car would turn on the hazard lights and gradually slow down until it comes to a complete stop.
At the same time, the car starts playing a loud beeping sound that is meant to help the driver wake up and take control of the car.
As a Tesla rep told The Huffington Post, Autopilot “does not turn a Tesla into an autonomous vehicle.” However, this feature will surely reduce the risk of a car crash and potentially save many lives.
Image source : https://www.flickr.com/photos/torek/13948757015/
