Tesla’s Autopilot, cellphone use blamed in 2018 fatal crash

A file photo of emergency personnel working the scene where a Tesla electric SUV crashed into a barrier on US Highway 101 in Mountain View, California. The National Transportation Safety Board says the driver of a Tesla SUV who died in a Silicon Valley crash two years ago was playing a video game on his smartphone at the time. Chairman Robert Sumwalt said at the start of a hearing on Feb 25, 2020 that partially automated driving systems like Tesla's Autopilot cannot drive themselves. Yet he says drivers continue to use them without paying attention. — KTVU-TV/AP

US crash investigators faulted Tesla Inc’s Autopilot system and the driver’s distraction by a mobile device for a fatal accident in 2018 and called on Apple Inc and other mobile phone makers to do more to keep motorists’ attention on the road.

Tesla was heavily criticised for not doing enough to keep drivers from using its driver-assist function inappropriately. American regulators, which have guidelines but no firm rules for the emerging automated driving systems, were also attacked by the safety board.