Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is blaming a driver in China for a crash that occurred while he was using its Autopilot feature.
The owner of a blue Tesla Model S scrapped the side of a car that was sitting half off the road. TSLA says the driver is at fault for not steering the car away from the other one.It also noted that the driver’s hands were not placed on the steering wheel at the time of the wreck.
Luo Zhen, the Model S owner involved in the wreck, argues that the Tesla Autopilot feature is at fault. He said that the feature is promoted as a self-driving ability by the company’s salesmen. The company’s China website also features the words “zidong jiashi”, which translates to “self-driving.” Other Tesla owners in the country also said the cars were described as self-driving.
Tesla argues that it has never referred to its car as self-driving. Its official stance on the feature is that it is an advance driver assistance system. The system will remind drivers to keep their hands on the wheel if they are off it for too long. It will stop the car if driver’s don’t put their hands on the wheel when reminded, reports Fortune.
This isn’t the first time that a crash has occurred while Tesla Autopilot was being used. The first incident occurred earlier this year and it resulted in the death of one person. Shortly after an investigation into the incident was revealed, Consumer Reports called for the company to disable the feature due to it still being tested.
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