Tesla, the electric-car maker headed by Elon Musk, tumbled on Monday as the government’s probe of a fatal crash involving its assisted-driving equipment heightened concerns about the technology’s reliability.
A 38-year-old Apple engineer, Walter Huang, was killed in the crash, which occurred when his Tesla Model X struck a road barrier on March 23 in Mountain View, Calif., according to the California Highway Patrol. The accident occurred less than a week after a pedestrian in Tempe, Ariz., died from injuries when she was struck by a self-driving Uber vehicle, a fatality believed to be the first of its kind.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is reviewing both accidents, said Sunday it was “unhappy” with Tesla’s disclosure of investigative data. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based manufacturer said in a statement Friday that the car’s Autopilot technology had been activated just moments before the collision, with its adaptive cruise control follow-distance set to minimum, and that the system gave several audible and visual warnings before impact.
The details were disclosed amid growing concerns about the safety of self-driving cars, which have been supported by President Trump’s administration as a way to curb traffic fatalities. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who has previously backed the vehicles on similar grounds, has ordered Uber to halt its tests in that state, and Senate Democrats started probing a legal loophole that could block consumers from suing autonomous-vehicle companies.
In the Uber case, 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg was struck as she attempted to walk a bicycle across a Tempe, Ariz., street about 10 p.m. on Sunday, March 18, according to local police. The California crash, in contrast, occurred about 9:30 a.m., and police said Huang’s vehicle caught fire when it was struck by two other automobiles after hitting the barrier.
[Police release video from self-driving Uber vehicle just before fatal crash in Arizona]
“The safety of our customers is our top priority, which is why we are working closely with investors to understand what happened, and what we can do to prevent this from happening in the future,” Tesla said in a statement. The company’s shares slid 4.9 percent to $252.98, widening losses over the past year to 9 percent.
The NTSB, which is including issues with Tesla’s Autopilot that Huang had reported earlier in its investigation, said it still needs the company’s help decoding data recorded by the Model X.
“In each of our investigations involving a Tesla vehicle, Tesla has been extremely cooperative on assisting with the vehicle data,” NTSB spokesman Christopher O’Neil said in a statement. “However, the NTSB is unhappy with the release of investigative information by Tesla.”
