NTSB 'unhappy' with Tesla for releasing information about fatal crash

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/02/ntsb-unhappy-tesla-fatal-crash-autopilot

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The National Transportation Safety Board is “unhappy” about Tesla’s decision to release information from an investigation of a fatal crash involving its Autopilot system.

A vehicle using the semi-autonomous system crashed into a concrete lane divider on Highway 101 in Mountain View, California, last week. The car’s driver, Wei Huang, a 38-year-old software engineer for Apple, was killed. The car burst into flames after the accident.

Tesla released a statement on its website that said data showed the driver did not have his hands on the wheel, as recommended, and received several warnings from the system before the crash.

The company said its Autopilot feature can keep speed, change lanes and self-park but requires drivers to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel, in order to be able to take control and avoid accidents. Autopilot does not prevent all accidents, Tesla said, but does make them less likely.

Tesla said the lane divider in the crash had been previously damaged and not repaired, worsening the impact of the car.

“No one knows about the accidents that didn’t happen,” the company added, “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.”

Christopher T O’Neil, a spokesman for the NTSB, said that “in each of our investigations involving a Tesla vehicle, Tesla has been extremely cooperative on assisting with the vehicle data”.

But he added: “The NTSB is unhappy with the release of investigative information by Tesla.”

The NTSB said its next update would come in a preliminary report, which generally takes weeks.