Tesla logged its first self-driving vehicle accident in China on Tuesday at the North Fifth Ring Road in Beijing. The driver blamed the car’s Autopilot for what happened.
However, Jalopnik noted that the video from CarNewsChina showed the Tesla S was moving rather slowly when it passed a parked Santana on the left about 100 feet after a warning triangle. Another vehicle before the Tesla left its lane to make room, but the Tesla car driver did not.
It resulted in the Tesla crashing into the disabled vehicle because the autopilot failed to see it. No one was hurt. It was Luo’s first driving accident since he started driving seven years ago, reported Chinadaily.
However, the driver, Luo Zhen, saw it but his hands were not on the wheel when it happened since he appears to have set the Tesla on Autopilot. He apparently had five seconds to react.
After crashing into the Santana, Luo took over and manually stopped the car. He believes the accident is the result of a technical bug in the system of Tesla’s Autopilot and the carmaker should assume half of the 50,000 yuan it cost him for the car repair, while the other half by the Santana owner for illegal parking.
Luo finds Tesla’s claim of the abilities of its Autopilot system exaggerated because it only provided scant warning. He finds it only an assistance system that he could not fully rely on.
However, Tesla’s advisory states the driver must remain engaged and keep his hands always on the steering wheel even if the car is on Autopilot mode. China’s laws also requires drivers to keep their hands on the wheel.
Since self-driving cars are relatively new, the country’s laws have not yet addressed the situation on who is responsible when such a vehicle gets into an accident. It is also unclear if the Tesla was on Autopilot when the accident occurred as well as if Luo would file a lawsuit against the carmaker.