Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed on Monday afternoon the fatal crash involving a Tesla Model S was not on Autopilot, despite what local police had suspected in Harris County in Houston, Texas.
Musk responded to Ahmad A Dalhat (@Amart15416132), who had questioned the Wall Street Journal’s take on the story.
“This doesn’t make sense. There are safety measures in place with the [Autopilot] Seat is weighted to make sure there is a driver, hands must be on steering wheel every 10 seconds or it disengages. Autopilot doesn’t go over the speed limits [over] limit [is] mpossible… Research pls,” said Ahmad.
Musk replied to Ahmad to say, “your research as a private individual is better than professionals @WSJ!”, slamming the Wall Street Journal in the process.
“Data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled & this car did not purchase [Full Self-Driving]”, said Musk, who added, “moreover, standard Autopilot would require lane lines to turn on, which this street did not have.”
Your research as a private individual is better than professionals @WSJ!
Data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled & this car did not purchase FSD.
Moreover, standard Autopilot would require lane lines to turn on, which this street did not have.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 19, 2021
Many mainstream media headlines quickly claimed victims who died in the Model S crash had Autopilot enabled, but according to Musk, this is not true at all.
On the weekend, Tesla shared its Q1 2021 safety report, with Musk highlighting a Tesla with Autopilot enabled has a 10x lower chance of accident versus an average car.
