IIHS restores Tesla Model 3’s top safety rating after testing the vision-based system, Consumer Reports follows
The story starts when Tesla’s AI team decided that it is better to eliminate the forward-facing radar from the safety, Autopilot, and Full Self-Driving (FSD) algorithm. CEO Elon Musk announced back in April that Tesla is now going to move forward with a pure vision-based approach in handling the Autopilot decisions.
This decision also affected the automatic emergency braking (AEB) and front collision warning (FCW) systems for the newly built radar-less cars or if Tesla decides to disable the radar in existing cars via an over-the-air (OTA) software update.
In light of this, decision, both Consumer Reports (CR) and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) dropped the Tesla Model 3 from their list of “Top Safety Picks”.
In the meantime, Tesla provided IIHS with a Tesla Model 3 that utilizes the new vision-based system to take decisions for AEB and FCW. After thoroughly testing the new system, IIHS restored the Model 3’s safety status back to “Top Safety Picks+” the highest safety rating a car can score with the IIHS.
In light of IIHS’ decision, Consumer Reports also reinstated the Tesla Model 3 back its Top Pick status as well CR reported earlier today.
