Saturday night in Spring, Texas, a fast-moving Tesla crashed into a tree before catching fire.
Both occupants are deceased.
According to the first elements of the investigation, the emergency services found a victim in the passenger seat and the other in the back seat.
But no one behind the wheel.
This accident, which is not the first, reopens the debate on the safety of the driving assistance system of Elon Musk's brand.
In each accident, the manufacturer recalls that its Autopilot, which allows the car's speed to be adapted to the traffic and to guide the car on clearly demarcated lanes, must be permanently under the vigilance of the driver even when the cars are equipped with the “full self-driving capability” version.
With this version, in principle, the car does its own thing to change lanes on the motorway, to niche or to stop at traffic lights.
If the investigation of the accident is not yet completed - while Elon Musk indicated on Monday that according to the first data collected, the Autopilot driving assistance system available on the brand's cars was not engaged - the issue of the safety of this assistance system is once again pointed out.
Easy to run the car without anyone behind the wheel
Photos have already been circulated with people taking a nap in the passenger seat in traffic and without anyone behind the wheel.
A consumer association recently showed in a survey that it was "easy" to run a vehicle of the brand without a driver.
On its website, Consumer Reports explained that it was possible for the driver of a moving car to slip into the passenger seat by hanging a weight on the steering wheel and not unhooking the seat belt.
"The system not only failed to ensure that the driver was paying attention, but it also failed to spot whether or not there was a driver," said the association.
The US Minister of Transport Pete Buttigieg, while confirming that federal investigators were still "in the process of gathering information" on the accident, nonetheless recalled that "many driver assistance systems continue to rely on l assumption that an attentive driver is behind the wheel. "
For their part, Senators Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey called on NHTSA (the supervisory authority) in a letter to conduct a "thorough" investigation into the accident, which also includes "recommendations on remedies that could possibly be made to prevent such events from happening again.
“While stressing that this is already the 28th investigation involving the manufacturer.
There appears to be "a trend emerging" on Tesla vehicle safety issues, which "is incredibly worrisome and deserves your full attention," they add.
In particular, they highlight the fact that Tesla can give drivers a "false sense of security" when describing the capabilities of its driver assistance systems.
Several questions about the safety of the brand
For several months, Tesla's security issues have tarnished the brand's image even if its share price continues to soar.
In January, the American road safety agency, NHTSA had asked to recall 158,000 cars in the United States for a safety problem related to the exhaustion of the memory of the on-board computer and in particular of the information system. -Entertainment that could lead to the risk of some programs not working properly.
“During an MCU failure, the screen goes black and the rear view camera, also a backup camera, is no longer available to the driver.
If the image is no longer available, the risk of an accident increases, which can potentially lead to injuries or even death, ”explained the regulator.
A few days ago, during the Shanghai Auto Show in China, the first major auto show open to the public since the start of the pandemic, the brand was also the target of an unhappy customer.
In a scene that has made the rounds on social networks, we see her perched on the roof of a Tesla.
In the footage, she can be heard screaming that she almost died due to her vehicle's supposedly faulty brake system.
She wears a T-shirt with the Tesla logo and the inscription "brakes failing".
Protester screams “TESLA BRAKES FAIL” - in viral #Shanghai
Security guards had to physically drag away a screaming woman protest at a Chinese auto expo after she jumped on top of a Tesla vehicle while wearing a t-shirt that said: “The Brakes Don 't Work ”and“ Invisible Killer ”pic.twitter.com/a5uqTLxGdr
- ivan (@ ivan8848) April 20, 2021
If the lady was incarcerated for 5 days, the incident caused a stir in the Middle Empire. The market regulatory authority (SAMR) even stepped up to the plate on Wednesday evening. "A Tesla owner who recently defended her rights at the Shanghai Auto Show has attracted a lot of attention," said the regulator, explaining that he had asked his services in Shanghai and in central Henan province, d 'where the driver is from, to “protect the rights and legitimate interests of this consumer”. Any company "must assume its responsibilities in terms of quality and safety," said SAMR in a thinly veiled criticism of Tesla. Ditto for the Consumers Association of China which expressed its "concern". In the face of complaints, "companies must listen carefully,sincerely negotiate and provide consumers with appropriate explanations and effective solutions. "
In the face of this, Tesla has let it be known that he is in contact with the authorities and that he accepts an investigation into the grievances of the disgruntled customer. It must be said the brand plays big in China. It is its first market with a quarter of the total production sold in the country.
