Tesla Fires Back After Fatal Model S Autopilot Crash

Tesla on Wednesday denied allegations that it purposefully withheld material information from shareholders about a fatal crash of a Model S operating in Autopilot, and said its system was not at fault for the wreck.

Fortune this week examined the timing between the deadly accident and a huge stock sale by Tesla and CEO Elon Musk. On May 7, a man named Joshua Brown died in Florida while riding in a Tesla that was operating in Autopilot. The electric car maker didn't publicly announce the crash, which is now being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), until June 30 — nearly eight weeks after it happened.

In an article this week, Fortune claims Tesla and Musk knowingly withheld the "very material fact that a man had died while using an auto-pilot technology that Tesla had marketed vigorously as safe and important to its customers" ahead of a $2 billion stock sale on May 18, just 11 days after the accident.

Tesla on Wednesday released a blog post shooting down allegations that it knowingly withheld material information, calling Fortune's article "fundamentally incorrect."

"Fortune entirely ignores what Tesla knew and when, nor have they even asked the questions," the company wrote. "Instead, they simply assume that Tesla had complete information from the moment this accident occurred. This was a physical impossibility given that the damage sustained by the Model S in the crash limited Tesla's ability to recover data from it remotely."

Further, Tesla claims its Autopilot system was not at fault for the crash.

"To be clear, this accident was the result of a semi-tractor trailer crossing both lanes of a divided highway in front of an oncoming car," the company wrote. "Whether driven under manual or assisted mode, this presented a challenging and unexpected emergency braking scenario for the driver to respond to."

Tesla went on to say that "in the moments leading up to the collision, there is no evidence to suggest that Autopilot was not operating as designed and as described to users."

Meanwhile, word spread yesterday that the NHTSA is now investigating a second, this time nonfatal, crash involving a Tesla operating in Autopilot mode. The New York Times reported that the Tesla hit barriers on both sides of a Pennsylvania highway before rolling over.

Tesla added Autopilot functionality in October via a software update, but it stressed that the feature was not fully functional. Drivers still need to be in the driver's seat with their hands on the wheel, Tesla said at the time. Not everyone has paid attention to those instructions, though.

In other self-driving car news, Alibaba's so-called "Internet car," which runs the company's YunOS operating system, is now available for pre-order in China. Alibaba's news site Alizila reported that the RX5 sport utility vehicle "is part of Alibaba's push to change cars from mere methods of transport to connected devices in their own right."

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade.

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes.

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app.

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth.

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light.

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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