I'm aware that Tesla collects data on whether or not Auto-Pilot is engaged during accidents, but this article suggests that they also collect data on whether the driver even has his/her hands on the wheel. It's not clear from the article whether that information is collected from wheel motion (tiny movements left or right), a resistive connection (sensors in the wheel), or capacitive connection (just making a tactile-electrical connection to the wheel).
Black Box Reveals Cause of 60 MPH Tesla Autopilot Crash
Does anyone know the answer?
In any case, it seems likely that many of these "auto-pilot" accidents eventually will be deemed to be from drivers neglecting to maintain contact with the wheel (e.g. the driver is at fault). I suppose a small fraction of cases could emerge where a driver is paying 100% attention with their eyes but has his/her hands off the wheel for a moment and gets falsely blamed, but it seems like a good thing on a population basis, as people may feel less likely to be able to "get away" with blaming the car.
Black Box Reveals Cause of 60 MPH Tesla Autopilot Crash
Does anyone know the answer?
In any case, it seems likely that many of these "auto-pilot" accidents eventually will be deemed to be from drivers neglecting to maintain contact with the wheel (e.g. the driver is at fault). I suppose a small fraction of cases could emerge where a driver is paying 100% attention with their eyes but has his/her hands off the wheel for a moment and gets falsely blamed, but it seems like a good thing on a population basis, as people may feel less likely to be able to "get away" with blaming the car.