The new revelation of a second fatal Tesla crash while the vehicle was likely on autopilot shows the company cannot be trusted to deal with deadly failures in its vehicles and underscores the need for enforceable federal safety standards covering autonomous vehicle technology, the US group Consumer Watchdog said.
China’s CCTV reported on Wednesday that Gao Yaning, 23, died in January after crashing into the back of a road sweeping truck near Handan, 300 miles south of Beijing. CCTV said the Tesla Model S was on autopilot.
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“Tesla’s failure to report the death of another of its human guinea pigs in a timely manner is unconscionable,” said John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s privacy project director. “It also makes it clear that autonomous vehicle technologies must be subject to safety regulations that are enforceable by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.”
What was widely believed to be the first fatal Tesla crash in Florida killed Joshua Brown, 40, in May. It was not revealed until late June.
“Tesla’s vehicles are connected and data is transmitted to the company. There is no way that Tesla was unaware of the China crash. Keeping it secret since January smacks of a cover-up,” said Simpson.
Consumer Watchdog noted that NHTSA is expected to release autonomous vehicle policy “guidance” any day.
“Guidance is meaningless and will be ignored by companies when it suits them,” said Simpson. “This second fatal crash and the following cover-up demonstrates the need for real enforceable standards. NHTSA needs to start a rulemaking covering autonomous vehicle technologies.”
