Tesla Kept Fatal Crash Secret For 9 Days Before Reporting To NHTSA

Tesla Motors Inc. alerted regulators to a fatality in one of its electric cars in partial self-driving Autopilot mode nine days after it crashed, the company said on Tuesday, defending its decision not to make the accident public before a federal investigation was announced.

Tesla learned about the crash of the Model S sedan in Florida "shortly" after the May 7 crash, and on May 16 it disclosed the incident to the government. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on June 30 announced a probe.

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MDarringer - 7/6/2016 9:13:26 AM

-1 Boost

Tesla = dishonest

TheSteve - 7/6/2016 11:33:45 AM

+2 Boost

Readers should know I'm one of the LAST people to defend Tesla, but has anyone ever worked for a large enterprise? Have you had first-hand dealings with bureaucracy and process? In a case like this, there's all sorts of stuff that must happen between (a) incident and (b) manufacturer's report to the NHTSA. Examples include:
- First responder must complete their reports
- Are CSIs involved? Do they have just cause to investigate?
- Determine if the facts determine this as a matter that must be reported to the NHTSA
- Notify internal authorities at Tesla to start the wheels rolling
- Make sure all the filings are accurate, correct, and complete before submitting to government authorities
This could EASILY take 5 to 10 business days!

Before spinning this story as a Tesla "conspiracy" or "secrecy", we'd need to answer these questions:

(1) By law, is this the type of incident that MUST be reported to the NHTSA? If not, everything is moot.

(2) What does the law state is the time limit between an incident and the manufacturer's reporting to the NHTSA? Was Tesla within those limits?

(3) What is the industry average for such reporting? Was Tesla unusually late (but still legal) in reporting?

It's a shame that a layman, such as I, can see these very obvious questions, but "journalists" can't. Perhaps facts are less important than sensational stories in this time of "infotainment".

mre30 - 7/6/2016 12:23:53 PM

-1 Boost

Sh--t - that's the first photo I have seen of the Harry Potter guy's car. Poor guy probably never even saw it coming.

This is obviously a big deal and may likely bring about Tesla's end in a swift manner. Where is NHTSA on this?

What happens when Autopilot kills a pedestrian? Sadly, I'm sure that's on the horizon if this half-baked technology is not immediately shut down.

MrEE - 7/6/2016 8:30:31 PM

+2 Boost

Didn't GM fail to report fatalities like 9 years and got away with it.

HughJass - 7/8/2016 9:15:32 PM

+2 Boost

Poor guy? It was his own pompous stupidity that got him killed. Hey look peasants, no hands! In Elon he trusted until autopilot took his head off.