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Tesla Was Asked To Detail Fatal Florida Crash In Front of U.S. Senate Panel

Tesla Motors will have to answer to a U.S. Senate committee regarding the fatal accident that occurred this May in Florida.
2012-2016 Tesla Model S 1 photo
Photo: Tesla Motors
Senator John Thune, the chairperson of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, has invited Tesla representatives to brief them on the fatal accident that took place in Florida two months ago.

Tesla has to provide adequate and detailed answers regarding the situation by July 29, 2016. Senators want to be sure Tesla’s technology is deployed with full regard to safety, and that its clients are informed of the system’s limits beforehand.

Tesla reportedly received a letter from Senator Thune, in which the automaker’s Autopilot technology is under the spotlight. American safety regulators are already investigating the incident, as well as Tesla’s team of specialists, while reputable publication Consumer Reports has asked the company to disable parts of the system to prevent other accidents.

In the case of Consumer Reports, a respected publication that buys every product it tests instead of lending it from manufacturers, it has requested Tesla Motors to disable the automatic steering function of the Autopilot system. Without automated steering, the Autopilot would just be an advanced cruise control system, possibly with a lane-keep function.

However, Tesla’s Autopilot would then become unable to approach corners without human assistance, eliminating the risk of drivers becoming distracted with other activities while the car is in motion.

While Tesla Motors has underlined the fact that the system is offered as a product that is in “beta testing,” and that drivers should not remove their hands from the steering wheel, many drivers have put too much faith in the system.

Tesla insists that the driver is still responsible and in control of the car, even with Autopilot activated. On the other hand, Consumer Reports claims that the name of the technology promotes “a potentially dangerous assumption,” which would lead some to believe that the car could drive itself in any situation.

According to Automotive News, a Tesla spokesperson has stated that they have not seen the letter, and that the company has no immediate comment on the matter.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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