NTSB asserts Auto-Pilot engaged in 2018 California Tesla

crash
Undoubtedly, Tesla’s Autopilot feature still remains one of the most
controversial elements of Tesla’s cars. Primarily intended to assist drivers on
highway, the system combines features like adaptive cruise control, lane-
keeping, and auto lane-change. Despite the crtiticism it recieves, some Tesla
owners haven’t refrained from performing stunts like napping behind the
wheel or leaving the driver’s seat altogether while on an highway.

According to Tesla, more than 10 billion miles of such driving data has been
amassed, of which around a tenth was while Autopilot was active. Tesla's
Q1 2019 figures are roughly in line with its Q4 2018 report, which observed
one road-mishap for every 2.91 million miles driven when Autopilot was
engaged.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday a Tesla Model S was
in Autopilot mode when it struck a fire truck in Culver City, California — one
of a series of crashes the board is investigating involving Tesla’s driver
assistance system. Federal investigators are looking into the California
crash, as well a crash in January of a Tesla Model S that may have been
operating under the Autopilot system. Although, this hasn’t stopped Tesla’s
bullish claims about how capable Autopilot is .

“In the 1st quarter, we registered one accident for every 2.87 million miles
driven in which drivers had Autopilot engaged,” the automaker stated on
April ,2019 . “For those driving without Autopilot, we registered one
accident for every 1.76 million miles driven. By comparison, NHTSA’s most
recent data shows that in the United States there is an automobile crash
every 436,000 miles .”

The safety board (NTSB) said in documents posted Tuesday that the 2014
Model S Autopilot system was engaged continuously for the final 13
minutes 48 seconds of the trip before the vehicle struck a fire truck parked
on Interstate-405 in January 2018.

In a press meet the company had stated ,“No one knows about the
accidents that didn’t happen,” Tesla said, “only the ones that did. The
consequences of the public not using Autopilot, because of an inaccurate
belief that it is less safe, would be extremely severe. There are about 1.25
million automotive deaths worldwide. If the current safety level of a Tesla
vehicle were to be applied, it would mean about 900,000 lives saved per
year.”
Earlier in May 2018, Tesla was sued by the family of a 38-year-old Wei
Huang, who died iafter his Model X crashed into an off-ramp divider with
Autopilot engaged. Tesla was hit with another lawsuit earlier in March this
year, over a fatal Autopilot crash- the family of Jeremy Beren Banner, who
died in March, is suing Tesla for wrongful death while asking for damages of
more than $15,000. However there’s a catch to it, the NTSB’s language —
“did not detect the driver’s hands” — leaves room for the possibility that
Banner had his hands on the wheel when he crashed.

Tesla also often reminds drivers that they need to supervise Autopilot at all
times, though the company still markets and sells an Auto-Pilot Car it claims
to be self-driving. Musk has said in the past that crashes involving Autopilot
are often the result of the “complacency” of “inexperienced users.”

Regarding the 2018 California Tesla crash ,the driver kept his hands off the
wheel for all but 51 seconds of the final drive segment and received
numerous alerts to place his hands back on the wheel. Tesla did not
immediately comment.