US Senate committee wants details of fatal Tesla crash

A US Senate committee called on Tesla to explain the role an Autopilot self-driving feature played in a recent fatal crash and what the company was doing about it.

A letter sent to Tesla chief executive Elon Musk by Republican Senator John Thune calls for the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to be briefed no later than July 29.

"I am interested in the company's efforts to ensure the Autopilot technology was deployed safely in this instance," read the letter from Thune, the committee chairman.

"I am also interested in Tesla's work to educate customers on the use, benefits and limitations of the technology."

The letter was sent to Musk the same day that nonprofit product review publication Consumer Reports called on Tesla to disable the automatic steering function in Model S vehicles until it is updated to detect whether the drivers' hands remain on the steering wheel.

Consumer Reports also wanted the Autopilot feature name changed to avoid giving a false sense of security about the car's ability to drive itself.

"In the long run, advanced active safety technologies in vehicles could make our roads safer," said Consumer Reports vice president of consumer policy and mobilization Laura MacCleery.

"But today, we're deeply concerned that consumers are being sold a pile of promises about unproven technology."

Two recent accidents, one fatal, have involved drivers using Autopilot, though specifics of how much the drivers were involved in piloting the cars at the time were not available.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent Tesla a letter last week asking the company to supply detailed information on the car involved in the deadly May 7 crash in Florida, including Tesla's own analysis of what happened and of possible problems with Autopilot.

They also demanded all Tesla's records of other crashes and driver complaints, and details on the functioning of the cars' automatic emergency braking system.

Musk has defended the company's technology -- the most advanced driver-assist system currently available to consumers -- as on the balance safer than regular cars, noting the Florida accident was the first fatality in a Tesla linked to Autopilot.

"This is the first known fatality in just over 130 million miles where Autopilot was activated. Among all vehicles in the US, there is a fatality every 94 million miles," the company said on its website last week.

But worries have mounted that the feature has some faults, including not being able to recognize cars halted on the road, and that some drivers putting their faith in the feature are not watching the road.

In the Florida accident, the car slammed into the side of a tractor-trailer crossing the road in front of it apparently without braking at all.

Source: AFP