Backgrounder: Accidents caused by Tesla autopilot technology worldwide in 2016

The July announcement came shortly after news that a Tesla Model S driver was killed in a crash in Florida this spring while using Autopilot.

Tesla’s revolutionary Autopilot driver assistance feature has been in the news extensively over the last few months, though not for positive reasons.

Tesla’s strong defense of Autopilot underscores the huge stakes in the race to ideal self-driving and partially self-driving systems and the need to assure consumers and regulators that the innovations are safe.

Following the fatal May crash, Tesla defensively reiterated the proper use of Autopilot while characterizing the system as being in beta testing.

When Mobileye and Tesla Motors separated, Shashua thought there was no actual partnership between the two companies, as Mobileye only provided its technology to Tesla Motors but was not able to work with the company in the implementation.

Tesla defends itself by reiterating it tells Autopilot users they need to keep their hands on the wheel at all times, and be ready to take control of their cars.

The Tesla spokesperson said that the automaker refused to comply to the demands and that’s when Mobileye made its public announcement that it was ending its relationship with Tesla – though it continued shipping the EyeQ3 chip.

Pressure has been increasing on Tesla this week after Chinese media reported a fatal January crash in that country that may have involved the Autopilot system.

Stay on topic – This helps keep the thread focused on the discussion at hand. Since the driver failed to react in any way despite having plenty of time and space, the electric sedan hit the truck on the driver’s side at full speed. Autopilot will disengage if the driver ignores system warnings to put hands on the wheel three times in an hour, and the vehicle must be stopped and parked to turn it back on.

Shashua’s comments, “Reuters” notes, escalate an unusually public rift in an industry where suppliers and automakers rarely speak ill of each other in public. Shashua accused Tesla of “pushing the envelope in terms of safety” and that Autopilot “is not created to cover all possible crash situations in a safe manner”. After Mobileye announced its break with Tesla in July in the wake of the fatality, Tesla said Mobileye could not keep pace with Tesla’s product changes.

The company is now providing collision-detection systems to 27 automakers, accounting for 70 percent of the existing market.

Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has reiterated that the Tesla Model S crash, which led to the death of Gao Yaning, in China earlier this year is extensive, making it hard to confirm whether it was primarily caused by the Autopilot feature or not.