“Smart and sneaky”: Tesla autopilot turns off a second before the accident

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that at least 16

Tesla cars turned off autopilot mode a second before the collision. Discuss

In a public update to its investigation, NHTSA laid out its case for why it needs to investigate Tesla's Autopilot mode.

NHTSA said it is currently investigating16 crashes and found that Autopilot interrupted its own control of the car on average "less than a second before the first collision," although the driver should have been warned about the possible incident at least eight seconds before the collision.

But it is worth noting that the NHTSA has established:most drivers kept their hands on the steering wheel (as required by the autopilot), but the cars did not warn drivers to take evasive action in a timely manner.