NTSB Faults Tesla For Autopilot Crash

In 2018, Apple engineer Walter Huang was killed on the 101 freeway in Mountain View, California when his Tesla Model X slammed into the center median of the freeway. According to date analyzed by the NTSB, Huang’s Tesla was traveling at 71 miles per hour at the time the collision happened.

The NTSB has been investigating the crash and this week released its findings on the matter. The agency cited several causes of the crash, chief among them inadequacies of Tesla's autopilot system.

In particular, the NTSB report states that Huang's Tesla steered the Model X directly into a gore area without alerting Huang, who was distracted on his iPhone. The Tesla Autopilot vision system's processing software did not maintained the car's ability to stay in the proper lane. Also, because Huang was distracted on his phone, he could not take corrective actions to prevent the Tesla from crashing. Finally, the NTSB report determined that Tesla overall facilitates driver complacency and inattentiveness by failing to monitor driver engagement.

These are serious findings. The NTSB report also criticizes the NHTSA for perpetuating the myth of fully automated vehicles. In a statement, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said "It's time to stop enabling dirvers in any partially automated vehicle to pretend that they have driverless cars when they don't have driverless cars.”

The NTSB report is advisory, meaning it does not require Tesla to comply with its findings. The NTSB has investigated 14 Tesla crashes in California and Florida. We previously discussed these investigations here. Walter Huang's family is currently suing Tesla for wrongful death.

If you are a Los Angeles or California Tesla driver and were injured as a result of your Tesla autopilot malfunctioning, talk to a lawyer knowledgeable about these important issues.

The Rabbi Lawyer is ready to assist, 24/6.