Consumer Groups Attack Tesla, Urge US Goverment To Slow Down Autonomous Driving

A number of consumer groups in the United States are insisting that the government slow down the push for autonomous vehicles after three recent crashes blamed on Tesla’s Autopilot system.

In a letter penned to President Barack Obama, as reported by the Detroit News, The Center For Auto Safety, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, Consumer Watchdog and Public Citizen urged leaders that incomplete semi-autonomous cars shouldn’t be on the roads.

“It is time to stop your administration’s undue haste to get autonomous vehicle technology to the road. Autopilot technology that cannot sense a white truck in its path, and that fails to brake when a collision is imminent, has no place on the public roads,” the letter said.

“Tesla wants to have it both ways, hyping the image of Autopilot as self-sufficient, but walking back any promise of safety by saying drivers must pay attention all the time. By releasing Autopilot prematurely in beta mode, Tesla is unconscionably using our public highways as a test lab and its customers as human guinea pigs,” it continued.

These groups state that Tesla’s Autopilot system should be disabled until it is proven completely safe and investigations into crashes are complete. Despite this, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has already said that he won’t force Autopilot to be turned off on cars enabled with it.