Tesla is reportedly giving away accident reports to the media without consulting its customers

Electric car maker company Tesla is known to have some of the most sophisticated autonomous driving software. Called as ‘Autopilot’ the company has been working on improving it and believes that it is the safest system out there.

Now there have been numerous accidents in the past that prove Tesla has not yet perfected it. On the other hand, there have also been instances where Tesla owners survived a potential car crash thanks to the car’s high-tech security mechanisms. But there is a bigger issue here that could become a major issue for the company. According to a report Tesla has put drivers’ privacy on the back seat following accidents to defend its Autopilot system.

The Guardian suggests that the company provides all data to the media in case of a crash but doesn’t allow the customer to have a look at them. It’s great that the company communicates openly to explain the issues, but shouldn’t the driver have a say in it as well?

The report goes on to say that there wasn’t a single case where Tesla took permission of a customer who was involved in an accident before giving away detailed information from the customer’s car to the press.

This fact was confirmed by a Swiss driver who owned a Tesla Model S and went through a collision. Speaking to The Guardian, he said “Drivers don’t have access to this data to defend themselves if they need it. So this data is 100 percent to the disadvantage of the drivers.” The Tesla fanboy is however happy with what the company has been doing and how progressive it has been. “I still love my Tesla and the company is on the right tracks, but they need to speed up the pace and be more open and honest with the data they collect.”

According to a Tesla spokesperson “Autopilot has been shown to save lives and reduce accident rates, and we believe it is important that the public have a factual understanding of our technology.”

Autonomous driving software development is still at an early age and there is a long way to go before car makers can actually call them ‘safe’. The systems that are being deployed today still rely on the driver for a completely safe riding experience. This makes it easier for a car maker like Tesla to defend its system by saying that the driver was at fault.

Tesla is not completely biased though. It did publicly admit that its software made a mistake when Tesla driver Joshua Brown passed away in a car crash in Canton, Ohio last year. According to the company, the Autopilot software did not “see” the white side of a tractor-trailer as it moved in front of the car against the white sky. The driver was reportedly watching a video and did not see the vehicle in front.

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from http://tech.firstpost.com/auto/tesla-is-reportedly-giving-away-accident-reports-to-the-media-without-consulting-its-customers-370373.html