Tesla's terrible response to this and the detrimental effect on its image must be pretty obvious to most of the HN crowd. I have to wonder why they persist. Is their PR spin actually having a positive effect on the public at large?
Mr. Musk seems like he's becoming increasingly erratic and controlling, and there's a record of him being unable to take criticism. This is a pretty intense form of criticism.
Tesla's progress in ramping up production for the Model 3 could charitably be described as "rocky," and there's been a steady drumbeat of news stories over the last couple of months saying Tesla's financials don't look great either.
Given all that, it seems fair to assume that Musk is under a lot of pressure at the moment; and stressed-out people make bad decisions.
How could the NTSB be fair and impartial if Tesla ever had "leverage" with the investigation?
The investigation will continue on, and the NTSB will conduct it fairly, Tesla just won't be involved. I understand both sides, Tesla desperately wants to tell it's side publicly, and the NTSB wants all participants to stay quiet till investigation completes.
You can make a statement, you just can't leak information from the investigation to the public. They could have talked broadly about autopilot and what you should and shouldn't do without divulging the details of this specific case.
The fact that sensors reported the driver didn’t have their hands on the wheel, and ignored warnings to put their hands back on the wheel is important, and there is no reason why this needs to stay secret for a year. It’s a stark reminder to Tesla owners to follow usage instructions.
And releasing it doesn’t prejudice the investigation in any way.
1. This early in the investigation process, you can't actually put that in the proper context.
2. As the NTSB noted, part of the reason for these rules is also PR-related - they want to make sure that other parties' decision-making processes on information-sharing aren't warped by the need to get favorable information out in public faster.
3. Most importantly - showing no respect for the procedures of the agency investigating you indicates a mentality that puts you above third-party judgment.
Drawing a conclusion about the investigation before it's finished seems like pretty obvious spin.
> TESLA: "The only way for this accident to have occurred is if Mr. Huang was not paying attention to the road, ..."
Nobody knows what happened. Huang may have had his hands on the wheel, which the system failed to register, and the car made a turn that he wasn't able to correct in time without hitting other vehicles.
The other hands ask: what don't we know that's causing them to act like this.
Moi? I would presume the NTSB is being manipulated somehow in someway to slow Tesla down and/or knock them from there perch. Look at their valuation. Certainly their must be long time auto industry ego who find that offensive.
Something is drifting sideways but it feels like there are other less obvious forces and influences involved.
