The fatal accident that took the life of Joshua Brown earlier in the summer was a tragic event and one that could have been avoided had Mr. Brown or the Autopilot system detected the tractor trailer that was crossing their path. While this system is and has always been advertised as a semi-autonomous system, there’s no doubt this fatal crash has been weighing on the mind and heart of CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, since it happened. With that in mind and the ability to help improve the system and enable the radar system to be more actively helpful we now have a new update to the feature.

In the past the Autopilot system of the Tesla Model S and Model X has been camera heavy with a radar backup system. This radar system was never programmed to engage the brakes or take any control of the vehicle when used, only to provide the camera system with more information to help it be more effective overall. This is about to change with the upgrades that are being sent to the Model S and Model X vehicles that have been purchased over the past two years.

These updates will be sent over the air and will help to reduce the possibility of crashes such as the on Mr. Brown experienced. With the radar system able to engage controls, seeing dense vehicles and other objects on the road that need to be avoided will be much easier than before. The problem in the crash involving Mr. Brown was that the camera system couldn’t discern the difference between a white trailer and the sky above, which was the same color at the time. With a radar system the vehicle would have been detected and this accident could have been avoided.

By adding more control to the radar part of the Autopilot system, Tesla will allow these vehicles to read a few vehicles ahead and be able to determine if any adjustments need to be made to the speed or direction of the vehicle. While the Model S and Model X already have exceptional safety ratings and have avoided many crashes with their systems, the inclusion of this software update is said to have an expected result of a reduction of nearly fifty percent of the crashes that are already experienced on the road by these vehicles, giving us more confidence in this system.

Musk does warn that the responsibility for the system and its performance still lies squarely on the shoulders of the owner and driver of the vehicle. The Autopilot system is not meant to be a fully autonomous driving feature and does not replace the actual driver in any way. While having a radar based system will improve the safety of the vehicles from Tesla, reliance on this system is still something that must be avoided as it’s not meant to do all the driving for you. Hopefully we won’t have another accident like that of Mr. Brown to discuss in the future.