Why Autopilot ‘recall’ is a win for Tesla

1) Tesla did not agree with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s conclusion, after more than two years of investigation, that any action was necessary, according to a NHTSA document. But the company agreed to send an over the air software fix to resolve the investigation. Tesla and NHTSA did not give details on how that software update will change the driver experience of using Autopilot. The recall and NHTSA’s framing of its findings look like a win for Tesla overall, Reuters colleague David Shepardson reports. Regulators did not conclude that Autopilot is fundamentally unsafe – as lawyers for accident victims and some safety advocates outside the agency have charged. NHTSA instead said drivers are responsible for the operation of their Teslas when Autopilot is engaged – the same position Tesla has taken to defend its technology.

2) The regulatory investigations, Justice Department inquiries and litigation over Autopilot are not over. But the scorecard for today looks like a win for Tesla which can keep selling Autopilot, as well as what it calls a more advanced “Full Self Driving” system. Revising and pushing out a software upgrade isn’t free, but it costs far less than a mechanical repair or disabling Autopilot altogether. Federal regulators have now formally adopted Tesla’s view that drivers are responsible for using Autopilot safely.

Source: