ASV against an electric car manufacturer “Tesla“They have launched a criminal investigation in connection with the claims of the company led by Elon Musk that the electric cars it produces are able to drive autonomously”, reports the agency “Reuters” with reference to three independent sources.
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Last year, the US Department of Justice drew attention to 16 traffic accidents, some of them fatal, involving the autonomous control system of electric cars “Tesla” “Autopilot” – at the time of several accidents. , this system, which promises the car’s ability to drive in complete autonomy, has been activated.
Since 2016, the capabilities of the autopilot system have been praised in Tesla’s marketing materials. Elon Musk he also said that the autonomous driving systems of the cars it produces are “probably more skilled” than the human driver himself.
On the other hand, last week, Elon Musk announced that “Tesla” will soon introduce the improved version of the “Full Self-Driving” autonomous control system, which will allow the owners of these cars to drive to work, visit the friends, etc. ., without ever touching the steering wheel.
Even now there is a promotional video on the “Tesla” website which states that “the person is in the driver’s seat only because of the highway code, but in reality the driver is not doing anything, because the car is driving independently. “
On the other hand, in other product materials, “Tesla” encourages drivers to keep their hands on the wheel even in active “autopilot” mode, ie “Tesla” technology is designed to assist in steering, braking, acceleration and lane keeping , but these functions “do not make the car completely autonomous”.
Such contradictory claims from Tesla could complicate the US Department of Justice case, according to Reuters sources.
Neither the Tesla company, its manager Elon Musk, nor the United States Department of Justice have provided comments to Reuters on the criminal investigation.
In the aforementioned 16 incidents, “Tesla” did not “notice” himself in autopilot mode and rammed a highway safety barrier or a stationary repair vehicle on the road. In some cases, it ended fatally for the Tesla driver.
