US authorities escalated an investigation into whether Tesla’s Autopilot is defective and revealed they have reviewed about 200 crashes involving vehicles using the driver-assistance technology.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced on Thursday that its preliminary evaluation of how Tesla Autopilot handles crash scenes with first-responder vehicles warrants further review and upgraded the probe.
Since opening the inquiry about 10 months ago, the agency has reviewed a much broader set of collisions beyond Teslas running into fire engines and police cars.
The agency has sifted through the circumstances of 191 crashes involving Tesla vehicles operating some version of Autopilot.
In roughly 50 cases, NHTSA found drivers were insufficiently responsive to the driving task. In about two dozen other incidents, the agency said the primary factor appears to be drivers using the system in environments and conditions where the technology encounters limitations, such as off highways or in inclement weather.
The risk for Tesla extends beyond the potential for the NHTSA to ultimately conclude a defect does exist.
The regulator has the power to order recalls, and its investigation could force chief executive Elon Musk to come up with better safeguards against driver inattentiveness or ways to restrict Autopilot from being used in situations it cannot handle safely.
“NHTSA appears to be increasingly closer to taking firm action against Tesla, which will hopefully be strong enough to permanently dissuade the company from continuing to mislead the public about the capabilities of its vehicles,” said Michael Brooks, acting executive director and chief counsel of the Centre for Auto Safety.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment on the NHTSA upgrading its investigation. The company’s shares closed down 0.9 per cent, erasing earlier gains. The stock has fallen by 32 per cent this year.
In a document posted to its website, the NHTSA said its probe now applies to an estimated 830,000 vehicles, about 65,000 more than when it started evaluating the potential defect in August.
Three more crashes involving Teslas hitting first-responder vehicles have occurred since the investigation started, the latest occurring in January.
The NHTSA said in the document that it will “explore the degree to which Autopilot and associated Tesla systems may exacerbate human factors or behavioural safety risks by undermining the effectiveness of the driver’s supervision”.
The agency also dispelled the notion that driver misuse of Autopilot may preclude it from making a defect determination.
“This is particularly the case if the driver behaviour in question is foreseeable in light of the system’s design or operation,” the NHTSA said.
Tesla has marketed certain assistance features as Full Self-Driving for years and charged customers thousands of dollars to test the technology.
On Thursday, the NHTSA repeated that “no commercially available motor vehicles today are capable of driving themselves”.
Autopilot is facing increased scrutiny from the NHTSA on another front. Last week, the agency disclosed the number of complaints it has received about Teslas suddenly braking at high speeds had more than doubled since it opened a defect investigation into that issue in February.
The NHTSA has given Tesla until June 20 to respond to pages of questions and information requests related to that probe. The agency is also planning to release data in the coming weeks about crashes involving automated-driving features roughly a year after it issued a standing general order for car makers to begin sharing information.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN MARITIME DISPUTE
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
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Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
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SERIES INFO
Cricket World Cup League Two
Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series
Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
Table
The top three sides advance to the 2022 World Cup Qualifier.
The bottom four sides are relegated to the 2022 World Cup playoff
1 United States 8 6 2 0 0 12 0.412
2 Scotland 8 4 3 0 1 9 0.139
3 Namibia 7 4 3 0 0 8 0.008
4 Oman 6 4 2 0 0 8 -0.139
5 UAE 7 3 3 0 1 7 -0.004
6 Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 PNG 8 0 8 0 0 0 -0.458
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
