Tesla Reports First Autopilot Crash In China

After researching the crash’s details from the car’s data, Tesla has confirmed that the car’s Autopilot feature has indeed been responsible for the accident in Beijing.

However, the driver’s hands were NOT on the steering wheel in the moments leading up to the accident. Tesla dictates that although the Autopilot feature does most of the work, the driver must still have their hands on the wheel in order to operate the vehicle.

Fortunately, no one was injured in the first confirmed report of an accident caused by the Autopilot feature.

“The driver of the Tesla, whose hands were not detected on the steering wheel, did not steer to avoid the parked car and instead scraped against its side,” a Tesla employee told Reuters. The Tesla company also said that drivers should “be prepared to take over at any time.”

The driver in the car responsible for the accident, Luo Zhen, is a 33-year-old programmer. He commented on the incident to Reuters. He commented that the was explained when buying the car that Tesla’s salesmen stated that the car was “zidong jiashi,”which translates to “self-driving” in English.

The driver admitted, however, that he was looking at a screen during the time of the accident — either his phone or the navigation screen. He said that Tesla was using a “immature technology as a sales and promotion tactic,” something which Tesla is denying.

“We have never described autopilot as an autonomous technology or a ‘self-driving car,’ and any third-party descriptions to this effect are not accurate,” Tesla told Reuters.

No matter who was responsible for this accident, drivers need to be more vigilant when using new technology that is responsible for the well-being of their lives.