Tesla, investigators clash on why car on autopilot crashed, killing its driver

Investigators examine the Tesla after the crash and fire killed its driver.

WALTER HUANG had just bought the Tesla Model X for himself for his 38th birthday. He turned on the Autopilot on his drive to work on March 23. His car suddenly slammed into a safety barrier and burst into flames killing Huang.

Huang's family, residents of Foster City, CA., has hired the law firm Minami Tamake to explore legal options.

"The Huang family intends to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Tesla and, possibly, its subcontractors involved in the design and construction of the Autopilot system," said the lawyers in a statement.

"Mrs. Huang lost her husband, and two children lost their father," said B. Mark Fong, a partner at Minami Tamaki LLP. 

"The family wants to investigate this incident and help ensure that this tragedy does not happen to other consumers who buy semi-autonomous vehicles. Our goal as the family's attorneys is to protect public safety, by ensuring the technology behind semi-autonomous cars is safe before it is released on the roads, and its risks are not misrepresented to the public."
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the accident involving the all-electric car. The agencies are also investigating the battery fire that followed the crash.

Tesla defended the safety record of its driver-assistance system and placed blame on Huang. 

The electric carmaker said the auto had activated Autopilot, raising new questions about the semi-autonomous system that handles some driving tasks. The company said vehicle logs from the accident showed no action had been taken by Huang before the crash and that he had received warnings to put his hands on the wheel.
Friday (April 13) on CBS This Morning, Tesla founder Elon Musk said the vehicle's Autopilot was not the problem. "The system worked as described, which is, it's a hands-on system. It is not a self-driving system."

The company warns drivers to remain alert and keep hands on the steering wheel while on Autopilot and Tesla released data saying Huang had his hands off the wheel for six seconds before the crash.

Tesla dropped out of the investigation because the company had disagreements with the NTSB over the release of details about the accident. NTSB says it dropped Tesla and the automaker says it withdrew from the investigation.
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