It’s the third serious accident apparently tied to the self-driving feature.
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A nine-page letter from the agency dated July 8 was made public Tuesday. Some answers are due by July 29 and others by August 26. At that time, Tesla hadn’t concluded the Model S was in Autopilot mode. The driver, Joshua Brown, 40, was killed in what is believed to be the first fatality of a self-driving Tesla auto.
What could Tesla’s Autopilot do? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in June said it would investigate the first known fatality connected to the Autopilot system, and that it’s homing in on automatic emergency braking. Tesla’s technology is more actively involved at keeping the vehicle in the lane, and can allow the driver to not touch the steering wheel or pedals for minutes at a time. Neither Brown now the car’s Autopilot system, which uses cameras and sensors to monitor its surroundings, spotted the white truck against a bright sky before it was too late.
NHTSA sends such letters as a part of its safety probes.
Such requests are standard practice in defect investigations, though the breadth of subjects addressed in the Tesla letter is notable.
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has said the automaker has no plans to disable the semi-autonomous Autopilot feature in its cars despite three recent crashes in which the system was in use or suspected to be in use, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The autopilot feature requires activation by the driver to work, Musk noted in the interview.
Tesla, which calls autopilot an “assist feature”, said data pulled from the vehicle suggest the driver’s hands were not on the steering wheel – which is “contrary to the terms of use”.
But it added a disclaimer in a blog post that “the driver is still responsible for, and ultimately in control of, the auto”.
Analysts and investors also have questioned the wisdom of Tesla’s proposed $2.8-billion takeover offer for SolarCity.
Tesla has disputed allegations that its SEC filings since the autopilot crash have been misleading.
The crash occurred May 7 in Florida while the Tesla was on autopilot mode and failed to see an 18-wheel tractor-trailer crossing the highway.
“No safety-significant system should ever use consumers as test drivers on the highways”, said Clarence Ditlow, head of the nonprofit Center for Automotive Safety. The driver and passenger were both injured, but police later charged the driver with careless driving.
SEC officials are reportedly investigating whether the fatality involving Tesla’s Autopilot technology could be viewed as potentially having a significant effect on the financial health of the company and, as a result, would be considered “material” information. The idea is to allow drivers to drive from on-ramp to off-ramp on an interstate highway with as little interaction with the vehicle as required. Shope said he has not been able to confirm whether Autopilot was engaged.
James Spindler, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told Automotive News that the fact that Tesla’s stock rose on the first day of trading after the NHTSA announced the crash and investigation supported Musk’s claim that the event was non-material to investors.
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Earlier this month, Tesla said it missed its sales targets for the second consecutive quarter, and is on track to miss its full-year goal of 80,000-90,000 vehicles.
