Tesla driver says Autopilot system not engaged during crash

Tesla Inc chief executive officer Elon Musk posted an e-mail from a driver who said he did not have his vehicle's Autopilot system on during a weekend crash in Minnesota, an incident that had led to the company's stock declining yesterday.

Dave Clark, 58, told the police the 2016 vehicle left the roadway after he activated Tesla's driver-assistance system, according to a statement released on Sunday by the Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office. The vehicle had turned turtle and Clark and four adult passengers sustained minor injuries, police said.

On Monday afternoon, after Tesla shares plunged 4.4 per cent, Musk tweeted a copy of an email that Clark sent late Sunday to the investigating officer, clarifying that Clark believed that he had already disengaged the Autopilot shortly before the accident occurred.

''To the best of my recollection I had engaged the autopilot system but then I had disengaged it by stepping on accelerator,'' Clark wrote. Musk said Clark had permitted Tesla to share the email.

After a fatal May 2016 crash in which the Autopilot system and the vehicle's driver failed to brake for a semi truck that was crossing a Florida highway (See: Florida death puts big question-mark on Tesla autopilot ), Tesla started shipping each of its new vehicles with more cameras and sensors to give them 360-degree visibility. 

The incident was investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration but did not find a defect in the Autopilot. The regulator and Tesla had said Autopilot was a driver-assistance feature and not a self-driving system. Also drivers were told to keep their hands on the wheel, while engaging it.

"I did not intend to put the blame on Tesla or the auto pilot system as I am aware that I need to be in control of the vehicle regardless if the auto pilot system is engaged or not," Clark said in the email to the sheriff's department released by Tesla.

Autopilot had come under intense scrutiny in the past from US regulators.

Tesla said in a statement it had "no reason to believe that Autopilot ... worked other than as designed."

"Every time a driver engages Autopilot, they are reminded of their responsibility to remain engaged and to be prepared to take immediate action at all times, and drivers must acknowledge their responsibility to do so before Autopilot is enabled,'' the auotmaker added.