July 29, 2019—In the wake of several fatal crashes earlier this year, two consumer safety groups are calling for federal and state investigations of Tesla's Autopilot, reported CNBC.
The Center for Auto Safety (CAS) and California's nonprofit Consumer Watchdog, referenced crashes including one in May in which a Model S sedan slammed into a parked police car and one two months earlier in which a driver was killed when his Model 3 sedan slammed into a semi-trailer in Florida.
Tesla has defended Autopilot. In a statement released in May, it said, “As our quarterly safety reports have shown, drivers using Autopilot register fewer accidents per mile than those driving without it.” The automaker also said in a statement that there is nothing about the name, Autopilot, that should mislead consumers.
CAS and Consumer Watchdog want the Federal Trade Commission and the California Department of Motor Vehicles to launch immediate probes. The groups say that Tesla violated Section 5 of the FTC Act, as well as California consumer law.
