Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk and the company’s AI lead, Ashok Elluswamy, have denied claims that the Full Self-Driving (FSD) system was responsible for a fatal crash in Texas. The crash, which occurred on June 19, resulted in the death of a 76-year-old woman, Martha Avila Mantilla.
Response from Elon Musk
Musk responded to a post criticizing a report that said a Tesla driver claimed to have engaged driver assistance technology as the Model 3 vehicle crashed into a home in Katy, Texas. Musk stated, “Yes, this makes no sense. FSD drives slowly through neighborhood streets and this was a high-speed crash!”
Ashok Elluswamy Weighs In
Elluswamy also responded to the incident, saying that the driver “manually overrode” the self-driving system by “pressing the accelerator all the way to 100%” in the area. He also stated that the vehicle reached a speed of 73 mph before the crash. Elluswamy criticized “blatantly irresponsible reporting” and reaffirmed that the FSD system was “safer than manual driving.”
NHTSA Investigation
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced that it will be probing the incident. The driver, identified as 44-year-old Harris Butler, claimed that the Tesla Model 3 was operating on the Autopilot system at the time of the crash. NHTSA is already investigating over 3.2 million vehicles over the FSD tech, and has recently closed the investigation into the Actually Smart Summon feature.
Key Points
- Elon Musk and Ashok Elluswamy deny FSD connection to fatal Texas crash
- NHTSA announces investigation into the incident
- Driver claimed Tesla Model 3 was operating on Autopilot system at time of crash
- NHTSA already investigating over 3.2 million vehicles over FSD tech
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