NTSB faults Tesla, U.S. regulators in deadly 2018 Autopilot crash

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday criticized Tesla’s lack of system safeguards in a fatal Autopilot crash in California in 2018 and U.S. regulators’ “scant oversight.”

NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said Tesla — unlike five other auto manufacturers — has ignored safety recommendations issued in 2017. “It’s been 881 days since these recommendations were sent to Tesla. We’re still waiting,” Sumwalt said at a hearing to determine the crash’s probable cause.

Tesla’s driver assistance system Autopilot is tied to at least three deadly crashes since 2016.

There are mounting safety concerns about systems that can perform driving tasks for extended stretches with little or no human intervention, but cannot completely replace human drivers.

Tesla drivers say they are able to avoid holding the steering wheel for extended periods while using the driver assistance system Autopilot, but the company advises drivers to keep their hands on the wheel and pay attention.

“Industry keeps implementing technology in such a way that people can get injured to killed, including this board’s recommendations intended to help them prevent such tragedies,” Sumwalt said.

Walter Huang, a 38-year-old Apple software engineer, was driving his Tesla Model X in 2018 in Mountain View, California, in Autopilot mode at about 70 miles per hour (113 kph) when it crashed into a safety barrier known as a “crash attenuator.”

The NTSB said Huang had been using an iPhone and logs recovered show a word-building game was active during Huang’s fatal trip.

Sumwalt also noted that Apple does not have a distracted driving policy and he said the board “will discuss ways to spur employers” to address the safety issues raised by portable electronic devices.

The NTSB previously urged the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to verify automakers using systems like Autopilot incorporate safeguards to limit their use “to those conditions for which they were designed.” NHTSA has not acted on that recommendation.

Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese and Sandra Maler.

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