Tesla under criminal investigation in the US over self-driving claims

27 October 2022

Reuters revealed that the US Department of Justice launched a criminal probe last year into Tesla’s self-driving claims. The investigation was prompted after more than a dozen accidents involving Tesla vehicles with its Autopilot activated, and some of them were unfortunately fatal.

Not a day goes by without Tesla making the news, either thanks to Elon and his Twitter saga or him trying to sell us domestic robots. If that fails, then there’s always Cybertruck delays and issues with Autopilot.

But it is the Autopilot that has always been attracting a lot of attention - it gets praised and chastised in equal amounts. And it all stems from its optimistic but very unfortunate name - Autopilot.

Tesla got so much bad press about it when it came out first that it had to come up with a better version of it and a new name. You’d think it would take a bit safer approach the second time around - no, they called it Full Self Driving or FSD for short.

Then there are the marketing campaigns from the company and constant posts and comments from Musk himself about how amazing the FSD is, how it can drive the car on its own. How it can take the driver from home to work and park itself. Only to be forced to come out and admit it was all a bit of “creative freedom”, commonly known as a lie.

Tesla argues that despite its misleading name, FSD is only there to assist the driver. Small print says the driver needs to keep hands on the steering wheel at all times. The company introduced many safeguards over the years to stop people from engaging the FSD and going to sleep in the back of the car. But the accidents keep happening.

Tesla’s defense is that it’s the customers using the system in a wrong way - namely not paying attention. In a way it makes sense, when the car is driving on its own and then crashing into a stationary vehicle, the question is - what was the driver doing? Clearly, she or he should have seen the obstacle - if they were paying attention.

This is where the Department of Justice steps in, it launched a criminal investigation in Washington and San Francisco, looking into Tesla’s claims. IT will establish if Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD naming constitutes a willful misleading of customers, investors and regulators. The DoJ is working on examining the technology to find out if Tesla’s claims are unsubstantiated.

It is the first criminal probe into FSD, there are several other underway, but this is the only one that can bring criminal charges against Tesla and prosecute the company and its executives. The outcome is not given, the investigation can find nothing and take no action or it can recommend civil sanctions. To press with criminal chargers, the investigators would have to provide solid evidence of willful wrongdoing and for everyone’s sake - let’s hope such don’t exist.

It’s one thing for the company to be over-optimistic about its products and services. Tesla does inform about the correct use of Autopilot and FSD, the first time a driver activates the system, there is a lengthy disclaimer that needs signing. But how many people actually do read it?

How many people tried taking their Tesla for a swim because Elon said it could do it? How many people went to sleep in a Tesla while the car was driving itself with some weights strapped to the steering wheel and with a brick in the driver’s seat just to fool the system? Should the company be held responsible for people who misuse the FSD? Who is at fault - the company for not making rules clear enough or the customer for breaking the rules?

There are no easy answers here, the road traffic legislation lags behind the technology and needs a serious update. The technology is great, but it shouldn’t replace the driver’s responsibility and brains. Common sense seems to be missing in far too many situations. Tesla’s approach in treating drivers as unpaid testers with its Beta FSD should come with serious warnings, but the truth is - people would still ignore them.

The waters are rough for Tesla at the moment, NHTSA is investigating 830,000 Teslas with Autopilot and already identified 16 crashes involving stationary first-responder vehicles. California DMV accused Tesla of false advertising and is pressing ahead with legal actions.

Is the small print enough for Tesla to survive unscathed? Should it follow other automakers and call its ADS systems less optimistic names? Or should it follow Mercedes and take legal responsibility for any accidents while the self-driving is in control of the car?

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