Electric car manufacturer Tesla Inc is known to be under investigation by US criminal authorities. This is related to allegations of crimes caused by the use of Tesla's Autopilot or autonomous technology.
This information was disclosed by three Reuters sources, who are familiar with the matter and the investigation process.
Still according to Reuters, the US Department of Justice had previously conducted an investigation, following more than a dozen accidents and some of them fatal. It's just that it has not been disclosed to the public.
In the investigation, it was stated that many accidents were experienced by Tesla cars, and it was known that the cause was when the incident occurred when the autopilot driver assistance system was activated.
Elon Musk 'PD' With Autonomous Technology
Although autonomous technology is currently under investigation, until this article was published, Tesla itself apparently has not received a response.
Instead, Elon Musk is said to be soon releasing an upgraded version of Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving' software, which will allow customers to travel to work, home, shop, without touching the wheel.
As is known, Tesla in 2020, has dissolved the Department of Public Relations. Even Reuters itself has not received an answer after asking Tesla about the investigation.
However, in an interview with Automotive News in 2020, Elon Musk said the problem with the autonomous system stems from the driver himself. Where they misunderstood the use of a good system, so it was not according to Tesla's instructions.
Previously, in 2016 when autonomous systems were introduced to the public, at a conference, Elon Musk mentioned that autonomous technology was 'probably better' than human drivers.
Even on Tesla's official website, there is a video that tries to show the capabilities of the car, especially with the presence of autonomous technology.
"The person in the driver's seat was only there for legal reasons. He didn't do anything. The car was driving itself," reads a video on Tesla's official website.
However, there are also discrepancies in information regarding Tesla's autonomous technology. They continue to explicitly mention and warn drivers that they must keep the wheel and maintain control of the vehicle while on autopilot.
Not only that, the technology developed by Tesla is said to be able to help with driving styles, ranging from braking, speed and lane change, but its features 'do not make the vehicle autonomous'.
The confusion over the function of autonomous technology itself has also received the attention of the California Federal Safety Regulator. They say claims about the capabilities of unmanned cars and the design of the system could make customers want to do the wrong thing.
The reason is, currently not a few Tesla car users, are actually driven to treat their cars completely without a driver, and feel comfortable sitting behind the wheel regardless of the steering wheel, thus risking a potentially fatal accident.
