Tesla says its new Summon technology can save lives

Last month, Tesla Motors introduced the "Summon" feature in its 7.1 software update which allows its cars to enter or exit parking spots or garages without the driver in the car.  

On Monday, in a blog post titled "Enhancing Safety and Convenience with Summon", Tesla outlined three reasons why it believes the Summon feature will push automotive safety and convenience forward.

"While many of (the new features from the update) move the ball forward toward a safer autonomous future," Tesla said in the blog post, "none is more significant than the remote parking technology known as Summon."

The company cited three primary reasons it's belief:

1. Addresses significant safety risk of close quarter operation. According to Tesla, the Summon feature's ability to enter and exit tight spaces autonomously mitigates the danger of operating a car in close quarters. In fact, Tesla cite statistics from a NHTSA study that shows 900 people were killed and another 52,000 were injured between 2008 and 2011 just from cars backing up.  The driver's ability to monitor the car remotely as well as the presence of a slew of on board sensors allow the car and driver to a have more complete understanding of the surroundings. "While these additional layers of security will not completely eliminate accidents when using semi-autonomous features like Summon, when used correctly, they can reduce their occurrence relative to conventional driving," Tesla said.
2. Since it functions semi-autonomously, Summon technology improves convenience by allowing the car to fit into the tight spaces than would otherwise not be possible in a car that requires room for a driver to get in and out. 
3. Finally, Tesla believes its semi-autonomous drive technology such as Autopilot and its Summon feature serves as a basis upon which our society can build towards autonomous transportation. "Autopilot began this process on the highways. Summon begins it in your garage," Tesla writes in the post. "As the technology advances, the complementary capabilities of each will converge."

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- Friday, February 12, 2016