--- title: "Tesla Accused of Shutting Off Autopilot Moments Before Impact" description: "In 16 separate Tesla crashes, records showed that the self-driving feature had suspiciously \"aborted vehicle control\" just before impact." date: "2022-06-14" modified: "2022-06-17" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/tesla-nhtsa-autopilot-report" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Tesla" tags: - "autopilot" - "elon musk" - "tesla" --- # Tesla Accused of Shutting Off Autopilot Moments Before Impact ![In 16 separate Tesla crashes, records showed that the self-driving feature had suspiciously "aborted vehicle control" just before impact.]() *\Image: Tesla\* Controversy over Tesla's Autopilot functionality, which provides limited automation functionality, is nothing new. The feature has reportedly been involved in a number of crashes, [some deadly](). But while the Elon Musk-helmed electric car manufacturer has so far managed to stay [legally unscathed]() by the feature, a [bombshell report]() from the newly-expanded National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation into Autopilot safety may change that. In the report, the NHTSA spotlights 16 separate crashes, each involving a Tesla vehicle plowing into stopped first responders and highway maintenance vehicles. In the crashes, it claims, records show that the self-driving feature had "aborted vehicle control less than one second prior to the first impact" — a finding that calls [supposedly-exonerating crash reports](), which Musk himself [has a penchant for circulating](), into question. Tesla has so far been able to [avoid legal accountability]() regarding Autopilot and Full Self-Driving — that's a related feature, [still in Beta rollout to the public]() in spite of an [ongoing government probe](), that provides much more advanced self-driving capabilities — crashes on grounds that self-driving collisions are the fault of drivers who misuse the misleadingly-titled assistive feature, and not the cause of the technology itself. "Autopilot enables your car to steer, accelerate and brake automatically within its lane," the carmaker says on its [website](), before adding that, "current Autopilot features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous." While the NHTSA findings might not be enough to bring Tesla to court, they might cause enough skepticism about the efficacy of the tech to warrant a recall. The probe also found that in four of the 16 crashes in question, the Tesla vehicle failed to provide audio and visual alerts to the driver during the "final Autopilot use cycle" before the crash. This points out some major flaws in the self-driving features, especially given the probe's assertion that available video of each of the collisions shows that "the approach to the first responder scene would have been visible to the driver an average of 8 seconds" before impact. Between a [massive round of layoffs](), [phantom braking reports](), and now a government inquiry that may result in an embarrassing recall, the electric car manufacturer is having a tough year. It's still unclear what will come of the NHTSA investigation, but in the words of the Tesla CEO himself, it's safe to say that we have a "[super bad feeling]()" about it. **READ MORE:** [*Elon Musk’s regulatory woes mount as U.S. moves closer to recalling Tesla’s self-driving software*]() \[*Fortune*\] **More on Autopilot misgivings:** [*Tesla Engineers Say Elon Musk Misled the Public About Autopilot Safety*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()